Public perception survey for “Judicial Reforms” Project 2

  • Sector:Judicial system
  • Services: Monitoring and evaluation,Public surveys
  • Period: September 22, 2009-April 30, 2013
  • Description:

Second Judicial Reforms Project aims to improve the judicial system in Armenia through the achievement of the following goals:

  • Provide the judicial system of Armenia with administration, logistics and capacities to enhance efficiency, reliability and ensure transparency of its activities and services.
  • Continue to improve public awareness on judicial services and access to legal and judicial information. 

This survey targets at supporting Judicial Reforms PIU in Armenia in the evaluation of the Project implementation results. For this purpose, public perception monitoring and specialist opinion study were conducted. The survey was conducted twice, in 2009 and 2013. The data obtained were used for the comparison with the objectives defined in the Project main documents. 

To conduct the survey a special methodology was designed; a set of qualitative and quantitative research tools were used for the implementation of the task.

Face-to-face qualitative interviews were held with the representatives of the business community, legal experts (lawyers, scientists) and officials from the Judicial Department and the relevant departments of RA Ministry of Justice. Also, group discussions were held with judiciary specialists.  

A quantitative survey was conducted in RA 10 marzes and Yerevan with 1,183 respondents in 2009 and with 1,119 respondents in 2013. The participants of the quantitative survey were selected in two stages: via random selection in the first stage and targeted selection in the second stage based on the factor of being related to judicial affairs. The survey results were digitized via SPSS electronic database.  

The survey covered the following main issues:

  • Attitude of the population towards courts and judges,
  • Attitude of the population towards other law enforcement agencies,
  • Functions for dispute resolution currently available and applied in Armenia,
  • Public awareness about the judicial reforms implemented in the country,
  • Attitude of specialists (advocates, lawyers, judiciary representatives, lawyer-scientists, businesspersons) towards the judiciary operations.  

Most remarkable survey findings are the following:

  • The attitude of the respondents towards the staff of the courts and their professional skills is overall positive.
  • Most of the respondents are overall satisfied with the fast performance of the courts, though they expect further improvements.
  • 74-80% of the respondents are satisfied with the building conditions and technical facilities of the courts.
  • Respondents are satisfied with the individual characteristics of CEJA officers.
  • Respondents’ satisfaction with the work of Traffic Police has increased.
  • Direct negotiations and judicial examinations were deemed by the respondents as the most common ways of dispute resolution.  
  • The respondents engaged use legal information more intensively. Television and print media are the main sources for legal information.