Public Awareness on the Lawmaking Activity of State Governance Bodies (AM0023)

The draft legal acts are being developed by the RA agencies about which the public is sometimes not sufficiently informed. As a result, the public does not have the opportunity to get acquainted with the draft versions until their adoption, as well as to propose recommendations to responsible agencies, and thus to contribute to the amendment process.

General online forum for the publication of draft normative legal acts developed by the government agencies to inform the public about the normative legal acts being developed by the agencies (including, by a subscription principle). The civil society will be given the opportunity to propose recommendations on the draft versions, as well as be informed about their status (i.e. whether it has been adopted or not, how it is edited, as well as the justification for non-adoption).

8. Public Awareness on the Lawmaking Activity of State Governance Bodies

Commitment Text:

The draft legal acts are being developed by the RA agencies about which the public is sometimes not sufficiently informed. As a result, the public does not have the opportunity to get acquainted with the draft versions until their adoption, as well as to propose recommendations to responsible agencies, and thus to contribute to the amendment process.

4. General online forum for the publication of draft normative legal acts developed by the government agencies to inform the public about the normative legal acts being developed by the agencies (including, by a subscription principle). The civil society will be given the opportunity to propose recommendations on the draft versions, as well as be informed about their status (i.e. whether it has been adopted or not, how it is edited, as well as the justification for non-adoption).

Responsible Institution: Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia

Supporting Institution(s): None

Start Date: August 2014 .......                                                                End Date: December 2016

Commitment Aim

This commitment aims to create an online forum for the publication of draft normative legal acts developed by the government agencies. The new website was intended to allow multiple users to access the database of draft legislation and leave their comments and recommendations.

Status

Midterm: Limited

At the time of writing of the midterm report, the online forum for the publication of draft normative acts was not available and the MOJ was negotiating with the World Bank for financial support to create an online forum.

End of Term: Substantial

The Government initiated changes to the Government decree №296 from 2010, which regulates public hearings of drafts of normative legal acts. Authorities responsible for developing the drafts should invite stakeholders to public hearings, through announcements on their websites as well as the unified website of the drafts of legal acts of the MOJ. Information on the place, time, dates, subjects, and the type of discussion as well as deadlines for submission of applications to participate in the hearings could also be published. During implementation of this commitment, MOJ actively cooperated with Araza.

At the time of finalizing this report (January 2017), the website was available in test mode^[1]. Originally the Government planned to present the website on 1 December 2016, but later postponed the launch date. On 28 December 2016, the MOJ organized a training course on practical use of e-draft.am for government officials of different state organizations². The portal was tested by all ministries³. According to MOJ, website was functional on 24 January 2017 (past action plan deadline) when it organized the training on launch and application of platform for draft publication⁴. Officials from 18 Ministries, 8 agencies and the Central Bank of Armenia participated in two trainings.

Did it Open Government?

Access to Information: Did Not Change

The Armenian public and CSO community were neither sufficiently informed about legal acts developed by different ministries and agencies, nor provided an opportunity to comment or contribute. The online forum was meant to create channel for publishing draft normative acts. Since the online forum is not yet functioning, there have been no changes in improving access to information.

The Government resolution №296, that regulates process of public hearings, refers to draft “laws”. One needs to see whether the portal will be used for public discussions of all normative legal acts or only select ones.

Carried Forward?

The commitment is not included in the next action plan.