OFFICIAL TRANSLATION

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

HO-279-N/23.03.2018/EN/H/20.11.2019

 

RUSTAM BADASYAN

MINISTER OF JUSTICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

21 NOVEMBER 2019

 

LAW

OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

Adopted on 23 March 2018

ON STATE SUPERVISION SERVICE

CHAPTER 1

GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

Article 1.

Subject matter of the Law

1. This Law shall regulate relations pertaining to the exercise of state supervision by the State Supervision Service (hereinafter referred to as “the Service”), powers of the Service, structure of the Service, special rules of conduct of the Service servants and other relations pertaining to the activities of the Service.

Article 2.

Main concepts used in the Law

1. The following main concepts are used in this Law:

(1)    state supervision — activities, prescribed by this Law, aimed at ensuring the exercise of supervisory powers of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia;

(2)    effectiveness — the adequacy of the tangible and intangible means used for achieving the intended result or goal, as compared to the result achieved;

(3)    legitimacy — compliance of the activities of the entity under supervision with the requirements prescribed by the legislation and other legal acts of the Republic of Armenia, as well as by the transactions concluded;

(4)    state funds — all revenues and expenditures, as well as tangible and intangible assets of the State Budget of the Republic of Armenia managed, formed or to be formed by the entity under supervision;

(5)    management of state funds — disposal, possession or use of all types of revenues and expenditures, as well as tangible and intangible assets of the State Budget of the Republic of Armenia;

(6)    formation of state funds — collecting, directing all types of revenues and expenditures, as well as tangible and intangible assets of the State Budget of the Republic of Armenia;

(7)    entity under supervision — bodies, institutions and persons prescribed by this Law with regard to which state supervision is exercised by the Service in accordance with the powers prescribed by this Law.

 

Article 3.

State Supervision Service

1. The Service is a body subordinate to the Prime Minister acting in the field of state supervision prescribed by the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On state administration bodies”, which exercises the supervisory powers vested therein by this Law.

 

 

CHAPTER 2

PURPOSE OF ACTIVITIES OF THE STATE SUPERVISION SERVICE,
ITS POWERS, PROCEDURE FOR THE EXERCISE THEREOF

 

Article 4.

Purpose of activities of the State Supervision Service

1. The purpose of the activities of the Service shall be ensuring the exercise of the supervisory powers vested in the Prime Minister by the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Armenia.

 

Article 5.

Powers of the State Supervision Service

1. For the purpose prescribed by this Law, the Service shall, within the framework of state supervision and through the procedure prescribed by this Law:

(1)    conduct examinations in state administration bodies and state institutions for the purpose of:

1. supervision over the execution of decisions of the Government, decisions and assignments of the Prime Minister, action plans of the Government, including anti-corruption programmes and measures,
2. supervision over the legitimacy and effectiveness of their activities,
3. supervision over effectiveness and legitimacy of the management and formation of state funds;

(2)    conduct examinations in bodies, established under the Constitution and laws, which are not considered to be state administration bodies, for the purpose of supervision over legitimacy of the management of state funds;

(3)    conduct examinations in local self-government bodies for the purpose of assessing reliability of the information serving as grounds for providing state funds;

(4)    conduct examinations at authorised persons performing the function of formation of state funds, for the purpose of supervision over legitimacy of the formation of state funds;

(5)    conduct examinations at legal persons with participation of the Republic of Armenia for the purpose of exercising supervision arising from the participation of the Republic of Armenia and deriving from the powers of the authorised body, as well as that of the representative of the Republic of Armenia in the highest management and supervising body;

(6)    conduct examinations at persons — with participation of the Republic of Armenia — acting as a party to civil law transactions for the purpose of exercising supervision deriving from civil law transactions with the participation of the Republic of Armenia and over the fulfilment of the conditions thereof, except for giving instructions based on the contract, which shall be implemented through the authorised body acting on behalf of the Republic of Armenia under the contract;

(7)    conduct examinations at legal persons having received means in the form of donation or grant from the State, community, or state or community
non-commercial organisations, organisations with more than 50% of state or community shares, for the purpose of exercising supervision over the observance of the requirements of the legislation regulating the procurement process;

(8)    conduct examinations at persons having received a subsidy or grant from the Republic of Armenia, for the purpose of assessing reliability of the information serving as grounds for providing state funds;

(9)    upon the consent of the Prime Minister, be authorised to propose to suspend the execution of the transaction, as well as the procedures and actions aimed at conclusion thereof, for the purpose of identifying, assessing the reasonableness of risks of unlawful actions of management and formation of state funds, threat of abuse and possible damages, and minimising them in the cases of such risks;

(10)  carry out disciplinary proceedings upon the assignment of the Prime Minister;

(11)   address the received applications, complaints and recommendations to competent state administration bodies and supervise their processing;

(12)   conduct parallel examinations in the cases and in the manner prescribed by this Law;

(13)   submit recommendations on the required measures deriving from the results of the supervision and exercise control over the implementation thereof;

(14)   co-operate with state and local self-government bodies, international organisations and relevant structures of foreign countries;

(15)   submit recommendations on draft legal acts and amendments (supplements) in the field of state administration.

 

Article 6.

Procedure for exercising powers of the State Supervision Service

1. The Service shall conduct examinations based on the letters of instruction of the Head of the Service in coordination with the Prime Minister. The letters of instruction shall prescribe the name of the body conducting examination, the full name, place of location of the entity under supervision, sector with regard to which the examination shall be conducted or the relevant part thereof, period under consideration, time limits and place for conducting examination, details on the official(s) conducting examination (title, name and surname).

In case of necessity to conduct examinations or inspections in the sectors under supervision of state administration bodies and local self-government bodies, the Service may, as prescribed by the Prime Minister, file a motion to the competent body for performing supervisory functions deriving from the powers of the given body by informing the Service of the results.

The examination may be conducted both in and out of the Service through requiring materials related to the examination, as well as through conducting examination in electronic systems. The examination shall be conducted through requiring materials, objects, documents and information, as well as, where necessary, by requiring an inventory taking of goods and materials, and through examination thereof.

In the course of the examination, the person conducting the examination shall have the right to require written clarifications, which shall be subject to provision within the time limits indicated in the claim filed.

The results of the examination shall be summarised in the relevant statement of information (hereinafter referred to as “the Statement of Information”). The Statement of Information shall be provided to the entity under supervision for giving an opinion thereon. The results of the examination shall include the Statement of Information and all the materials obtained within the framework of the examination, including the opinion provided in relation to the Statement of Information.

 

The results of the examination shall be reported to the Prime Minister and may serve as a ground for the Prime Minister to give relevant assignments and apply liability measures or give assignments on the application thereof.

2. The Service shall conduct parallel examinations at the other party to the transaction based on the letter of instruction of the Head of the Service, in coordination with the Prime Minister. The Service shall conduct parallel examinations at the other party to the transaction only in the cases when the information necessary to the Service within the framework of the examination conducted at the entity under supervision is incomplete, and it is impossible to assess the transaction under examination without conducting a parallel examination.

The Service shall conduct parallel examinations in local self-government bodies exclusively upon the assignment of the Prime Minister. The Service shall conduct parallel examinations in local self-government bodies exceptionally in the cases when the information necessary to the Service within the framework of the examination being conducted in state administration bodies is incomplete, and it is impossible to assess the legitimacy and effectiveness of the activities of the state administration body under examination without conducting a parallel examination in the local
self-government body.

The parallel examination at the other party to the transaction shall be limited to the examination of the conditions of actual performance of obligations, documents and other carriers as of the moment of examination of the transaction and, for that purpose, by requiring and receiving materials, objects, information and clarifications from persons, as well as, where necessary, making an inventory of goods and materials without disrupting the normal functioning of such persons.

3. The Service shall carry out monitoring for the purpose of examination, analysis and summarisation of the received information, applications, complaints, recommendations, documents and reports, for submitting recommendations to the Prime Minister through the comparison of the annual action plans of the Government and that of the inspection body with inspections conducted, as well as through the analysis of information obtained from information systems and databases and data on the results of the activities of inspection bodies. Access to information systems and databases, as well as receipt of information on the results of the activities of inspection bodies shall be provided as prescribed by the Prime Minister.
4. Based on the results of the supervision conducted, the Service shall analyse the recorded violations, issues, their causes, circumstances and consequences, by submitting to the Prime Minister statements of information and reports thereon, as well as recommendations on subjecting to disciplinary liability or giving assignment thereon.
5. Recommendations on analysis of the results of the supervision, as well as on increasing the effectiveness of the activities, on eliminating the omissions and shortcomings shall be submitted to the Prime Minister and entities under supervision.
6. When exercising supervision, the Service, within the powers vested therein by this Law:

(1)    shall receive gratuitous and free access to all paper and electronic information databases and systems, information and documents available in the entity under supervision or with its official and pertaining to the powers of the Service, as prescribed by the Prime Minister;

(2)    shall have access to the sites of the entity under supervision, including sites under special control;

(3)    shall be competent for requiring and receiving information, documents, statements of information, clarifications relating to the functions of the Service, from the entities under supervision and the officials thereof;

(4)    shall be competent, where necessary, for involving internal auditors of the entity under supervision (upon consent of the head of the given organisation), professionals, experts and representatives of scientific institutions as participants of the supervision and for forming ad-hoc working groups;

(5)    shall, in compliance with requirements prescribed by the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On protection of personal data”, collect information through electronic or paper carriers, surveys or other means not prohibited by law, as well as receive and classify the collected information through online access to the existing electronic information databases as prescribed by part 3 of this Article;

(6)    shall systematically summarise the information received on-line, through surveys, as well as through other means not prohibited by law and compare them with the subject of analysis or the actual status of the phenomenon to be analysed for the purpose of establishing the existing realities and providing an assessment thereto;

(7)    shall make visits for the purpose of receiving information on the phenomena, events, realities and assessing them;

(8)    shall conduct an inspection, site survey of premises, buildings, transportation means, objects, documents, equipment (including electronic), during which photographing, video recording, carbon copying of documents may be conducted;

(9)    may make a procurement of goods, works and services aimed at comparison of prices for factual acquisition of the same or similar goods, works, services, as well as at clarification of sales standards of goods prescribed by the legislation;

(10)  based on the necessity of clarifying the issues requiring special expert assessment, shall undertake an examination through taking objects, samples and documents, where necessary;

(11)   shall compare the results — obtained through the secondary data collection method — of the performed and completed actions or their phases with the results reflected in the record keeping;

(12)   shall, as prescribed by the Prime Minister, collect, summarise operational information received from state administration bodies in accordance with the form and procedure prescribed and shall submit it to the Prime Minister.

 

 

CHAPTER 3

STRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE STATE SUPERVISION SERVICE

 

Article 7.

Structure of the Service

1. Issues related to the structure of the Service shall be regulated by law and the Charter of the Service.
2. The Service shall have main and supporting professional structural subdivisions and a General Secretary.

 

Article 8.

Head of the Service

1. Direct administration of the Service shall be carried out by the Head of the Service (hereinafter referred to as “the Head”). The Head shall be directly subordinate and accountable to the Prime Minister.
2. The Head shall:

 

(1)    ensure the normal functioning of the Service;

(2)    submit recommendations to the Prime Minister in accordance with the sphere of activities, goals and objectives provided for by law, other legal acts;

(3)    appoint and dismiss employees of the Service, apply incentive measures thereto and impose disciplinary penalties thereon, submit recommendations with the aim of granting state awards to the employees of the Service, in the cases and in the manner prescribed by law;

(4)    suspend or repeal acts of persons directly accountable to the Head which contradict the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Armenia;

(5)    submit the annual financial statements on the activities of the Service and the annual balance sheet to the Prime Minister, approve the estimate of the annual maintenance costs of the Service, the performance thereof and the results of the audit conducted with regard to reliability of the financial statements;

(6)    exercise supervision over the maintenance and use of the state property attached to the Service;

(7)    submit the number of employees, the structure, as well as issues on structural changes and reorganisation of the Service to the Prime Minister for approval;

(8)    establish working groups;

(9)    adopt individual legal acts, issue orders, give assignments, letters of instruction, directions, supervise their process, hear complaints filed against the actions of the employees of the Service;

(10)  upon the consent of the Prime Minister, submit recommendations on terminating the execution of the transaction or the procedures and actions aimed at conclusion thereof, for the purpose of identifying, assessing the reasonableness of risks of unlawful actions of management and formation of state funds, threat of abuse and possible damages and minimising them in the cases of such risks;

(11)   act on behalf of the Republic of Armenia or the Service without a letter of authorisation, as well as issue letters of authorisation to act on behalf of the Republic of Armenia or the Service, including letters of authorisation with the power of substitution;

(12)   represent the Service in the Republic of Armenia, as well as in foreign states and international organisations;

(13)   require necessary information and materials, written or oral clarifications from other bodies and their officials;

(14)   define the functions, scope of competences of structural subdivisions of the Service;

(15)   fulfil separate assignments of the Prime Minister;

(16)  exercise other powers vested in the head of the body subordinate to the Prime Minister by law.

3. In case of the absence of the Head, one of the deputy heads shall perform the duties of the Head, upon the consent of the Prime Minister.

 

Article 9.

Special rules of conduct for employees of the Service

1. Employees of the Service shall demonstrate due professional objectivity in collecting, assessing and submitting information on the function or process under consideration, carry out a balanced assessment of all relevant circumstances and shall not be susceptible to undue influence of their own interests or of other persons when making judgements.
2. Employees of the Service must not carry out actions that may affect their impartiality or may be perceived as such. It also refers to such relations or activities that may contradict the interests of the entity under supervision.
3. Employees of the Service shall be obliged to respect the value and origin of the information they receive and shall not make public such information without relevant authorisation, except for legal or professional need.
4. Employees of the Service must be reasonable in using and keeping information received during performance of their duties and must not use the information received while performing their official duties for personal purposes or in any other way which contradicts the legislation of the Republic of Armenia or may adversely affect the purposes of activities of the entity under supervision or its official.
5. Employees of the Service must be honest, conscientious and responsible when carrying out their activities, must act in compliance with the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, must not knowingly participate in actions or measures that may discredit the Service, must respect the purposes of activities of the entity under supervision and its official.

 

 

CHAPTER 4

FINAL PART AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

 

Article 10.

Entry into force of the Law

1. This Law shall enter into force on the day the newly-elected President of the Republic assumes his or her office.

2. Before filling the positions of the State Supervision Service through the competition as prescribed by law, such positions shall be filled in under a
   fixed-term employment contract.

 

President of the Republic of Armenia	S. Sargsyan
30 March 2018 Yerevan HO-279-N