The Group was formed upon the orders of the Minister of Justice and complies with the principles of “The Regulations of Activities of a Public Monitoring Group at the Detention Facilities of Penal Services of the Ministry of Justice” of the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On the Custody of Detainees and Prisoners”.

The Group of public observers conducting public monitoring of penitentiary institutions and bodies of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia is a supervisory body that deals with the protection of rights and freedoms of individuals held in detention centers and criminal-executive institutions of the penitentiary system and individuals who are under the oversight of penitentiary bodies. The members of the Group are being elected for 5 years term.

In order to achieve the goals set forward, the Group members are entitled to unrestricted access to the penitentiary institutions, to examine the content of various documents (including, with the consent of inmates, their personal files, confidential documents and correspondence), the situation in the institution, and to meet inmates under the oversight of penitentiary bodies. In its activities, the Group shall be governed by the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, this Regulation, and the Code of Ethics of the Group.

Group members may visit penitentiary institutions or bodies on any day (including non-working days). At least two members of the Group shall be present at each visit. Members of the Group may, as a rule, meet an inmate in the presence of a representative of the penitentiary institution administration, and if necessary, also in privacy.

In its activities the Group may involve experts in relevant professional fields, including human rights advocates and lawyers if necessary. At the request of the Group, the Ministry of Justice of Republic of Armenia shall provide with a temporary pass for the expert to visit penitentiary institutions. An expert may visit penitentiary institutions only if he/she is accompanied by members of the Group.

The monitoring, as foreseen in the decree, is conducted by means of visiting penitentiary institutions and bodies and submitting reports on visits to the Ministry of Justice and general public.

There are three types of reports to be presented – current, annual and ad-hoc. Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia provides its comments on the reports.

The reports prepared on the basis of visits to penitentiary institutions and bodies or sections thereof are published with the comments of the Republic of Armenia Ministry of Justice except for the cases when the Ministry of Justice does not provide its comments within the defined terms. The reports and comments are also published on the official web-site of the Ministry of Justice.

 

CONTACT INFORMATION

Address:

Aygestan 11th str., 43 building,

Yerevan, 0025, Armenia

tel: (+37410) 574317
fax: (+37410) 559634