Armenia's Finance Ministry refutes increase in number of judges

The Armenian government rejected a request from the judicial department for the appointment of 10 more judges, head of the Armenian judicial department Karen Poladyan said at the joint meeting of the standing parliamentary commissions during the preliminary discussion of the draft state budget for 2020.

According to him, Armenia's judicial system is overloaded and needs to increase the number of judges, which could reduce the burden on administrative courts. Poladyan also suggested raising the salaries of judges.

Meanwhile, the statement on the government’s decision caused dissatisfaction of the My Step ruling bloc MP Vladimir Vardanyan, who appealed to the Finance Minister Atom Janjughazyan with a demand to clarify the situation.

"The law regulates the number of judges. As soon as this amount is reviewed, we will immediately review the issue of financing," News.am cited the Finance Minister as saying.