A regular Cabinet meeting took place today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The government adopted a decision by which it is planned to allocate funds from the state budget in order to enlarge the staff of the Public Defender's Office by another 15 employees from July 1, 2024. There are currently 69 positions available. As Deputy Minister of Justice Karen Karapetyan noted, the amount of work of public defenders is continuously increasing, which is due to a number of factors, including the need for the mandatory involvement of the defender in certain actions in criminal proceedings under the new Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as the need to support the legal problems of forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno Karabakh after September 19, 2023.

Nikol Pashinyan stressed the importance of the adopted decision and noted: "This is one of the decisions that demonstrates the will of the government to ensure citizens' access to a fair trial. We, of course, see this in the context of justice sector reforms and judicial system reforms in general. I want to emphasize with satisfaction that yesterday the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in its resolution regarding the fulfillment of the obligations undertaken by Armenia, also highly appreciated the reforms aimed at preserving the independence of the judicial system, which are being implemented by the Government of Armenia. Of course, it also mentioned a number of challenges, which we also know. In general, it is our will to consistently and tirelessly go the way of providing real independence to the judicial system of the Republic of Armenia. I think it is also very important to strengthen the institution of the public defender in terms of ensuring independence and access to the right to a fair trial. We have ideas related to this, and we will consistently implement them."

The Government made a decision by which it is planned to direct 2 billion 314 million 386 thousand AMD for purchasing property for 93 kindergartens with completed or near-completed construction. About 122 properties should be acquired for kindergartens, for which the regional administrations have already started the work of processing purchase applications. According to the decision, money will also be allocated for the start of the repair work of the kindergarten building in Geghamasar village of Vardenis community, Gegharkunik region. The Prime Minister reminded. "95 percent or more of all these kindergartens were built under subsidy programs. I also want to remind you that the government's share in the subsidy programs for kindergartens is at least 70 percent, and in some places up to 85 percent." Nikol Pashinyan once again emphasized the need to ensure quality in the ongoing process and informed that he will visit those kindergartens to understand what property was acquired. "With this, we want to create an opportunity for young mothers to have a greater opportunity to work, to participate in economic and public life, and in this regard, the 500 kindergarten program is essential," said the Prime Minister, adding that during one of the consultations, it was recorded that the 500 kindergarten program is progressing with fewer problems than the 300 schools program.

The Government made changes and additions to the state support program 2022-2025 for ensuring housing affordability for families in border settlements of the Republic of Armenia, the purpose of which is to support the improvement of housing conditions of families, providing appropriate conditions for the sustainable development of families (households) in border settlements. The aim of the changes is to make the range of beneficiaries more targeted, enabling single parents, widows, including the families of the victims to benefit from the program, as well as implement certain adjustments in the conditions of the program. Accordingly, it is proposed to define a new range of beneficiaries, making it more objective and targeted, as well as to clarify some wordings. In particular, in the case of mortgage loans provided for the purpose of building (continuing the construction of) individual residential houses in Baghanis, Berkaber, Kirants and Voskepar settlements of Tavush region, with the proposed additions, an additional 5 million AMD will be given, which will additionally encourage construction in the said settlements.