First joint meeting of the colleges of the investigative committees of Armenia, Belarus and Russia in the Tavricheskiy Palace

The three investigative committees of the Republic of Armenia, Republic of Belarus and Russian Federation hosted the first joint meeting of their colleges at the IPA CIS headquarters. This is the first event of this scale of special importance to all participants.

At the meeting, the heads of the investigative committees Agvan Ovsepyan, Ivan Noskevich and Alexander Bastrykin discussed specific features of their countries' legislation regulating the issues of international legal cooperation, submission and fulfillment of inquiries on legal assistance and support, improvement of cooperation and joint efforts in science and education.

The participants paid tribute with a minute of silence to the victims of the terrorist attack in St. Petersburg.

"Terrorism and extremism do not have an ideological origin. Their aim is to destabilize public governance and destroy state institutions", said Chair of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin.

Chief of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation Valery Zorkin, in his statement, focused on the issue of terrorism in the current context.

Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko stressed that St. Petersburg was playing an important role in promoting cooperation with the CIS countries, inter alia, thanks to the work of the IPA CIS.

Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Alexey Sergeev welcomed the guests of the Tavrichesky Palace. "It is a pleasure that the first joint meeting of the colleges is taking place here. The countries we represent are members of a number of inter-parliamentary associations including the IPA CIS".

"Security issues have been high on the agenda of our organization since its establishment 25 years ago. Considering their relevance for the Commonwealth countries, in 2004 the IPA CIS Council initiated the creating of the Joint Commission for the Harmonization of National Laws Related to Security, Countering Emerging Threats and Challenges drafting proposals on the improvement of legal forms of international cooperation among the CIS countries and a comprehensive expert and legal support of law-making in this sphere. Since its creation, the Commission has adopted 85 model codes and laws".

Alexey Sergeev told the participants that in March the IPA CIS had hosted the Parliamentary Conference on Combating International Terrorism, co-organized by the OSCE PA.

"IPA CIS is committed to further develop its activity on the alignment of national legal frameworks and adoption of new model laws to counter emerging threats and challenges and looks forward that these efforts will be supported including with an input from your investigative committees", concluded Alexey Sergeev.

The colleges signed the first mutual statement as an outcome of the event.