A set of amendments to the Armenian Law on Petitions and some other relating laws, passed today in the first reading by the parliament, vests citizens of Armenia with the right to submit petitions to central and local self-government bodies and other government agencies about shortcomings in their performance or raise issues of public interest, Arka news agency reported.
"Now every citizen of the country will be able to submit a petition to the state structures considering improvement of economic, political, social and public life of their community and receive an answer, which is also legally required," deputy justice minister Artur Hovhannisyan said.
The amendments specify the rights of applicants, the powers of state and local self-government bodies and officials, the procedure for filing a petition, the registration and publication of a petition, challenging inaction of state and local self-government bodies and other normative acts.
