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At May 21 extraordinary sitting, the RA NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs debated in the second reading the draft law designing addenda and amendments to the law on Public Service with the enclosed package.

The RA Deputy Minister of Justice Karen Karapetyan informed that during the period from the first to the second reading there were no proposals on the package.

He noted that by the adoption of the legislative package the key goal of the incompatibility demands is guaranteed, i.e. in case of consolidation of positions it is avoiding and preventing from the possible situations of conflict of interests and on the other hand, the exclusion of violation of the principle of separation and balance of the authorities.

The Deputy Minister clarified that the urgency of the drafts’ adoption is conditioned by the circumstance that in relation to the cases of holding public and public service positions by the members of the Council of Elders, according to the law, the Corruption Prevention Commission initiated proceedings, and its term is 90 days and the deadline is on May 24.

“In case of not entering into force of the legislative amendments until in the abovementioned term, the Corruption Prevention Commission, being led by the regulations in force, will hold proceedings, which can cause infavourable consequences towards the members of the Community Council of Elders,” Karen Karapetyan said.

The Deputy Minister proposed to endorse the legislative package for presenting in the second reading in the National Assembly. The co-rapporteur, the Committee member Alkhas Ghazaryan also called on her colleagues to vote for the legislative package.

At the same time, it was noted that there is a problem connected with the Council of Elders, which is not solved by the legislative initiative. It was proposed to more deeply study the international experience and find final version solution for the problem.

The Committee endorsed the legislative package.