- lp-body-content
- first-letter
In Armenia, when a baby is born and a new parent needs a birth certificate, or when someone buys a house and needs to verify the agreement, or when an entrepreneur starts a new company, it's the Armenian justice system they turn to.
With an average of over 19,000 cases per month, the Armenian courts, notaries and registry offices play a vital role in the country’s fabric, serving a population of approximately 3 million.
Today, Armenians who are seeking judicial services can expect a smoother, more transparent experience, as courts’ operations are increasingly digitalized. Outdated technology has been replaced, systems integrated, and services increasingly automated.
- lp-body-content
- first-letter
- lp-body-content
- lp-body-content
- lp-body-content
This experience is a powerful example of how digital governance can remove barriers, empower professionals, and foster trust in public systems.
Meet Deputy Minister of Justice Oksanna Abrahamyan, the woman behind the modernization program that, among other things, is currently digitizing records from the civil registry —a significant shift from the previous paper-based system, which often made it difficult for citizens to access documents in a timely and transparent manner.
Under her leadership, and with the support of the World Bank, the Ministry is currently working to extend the digitalization of its operations to other parts of its services, including archives, notaries, and penitentiaries.
00:00 In Armenia,
00:01 we are digitalizing the justice sector,
00:04 making services more accessible,
00:06 transparent,
00:06 and reliable for everyone.
00:08 Our guiding principle is simple access to justice
00:12 should not depend on your zip code,
00:14 status,
00:14 or connection.
00:16 Whether you are a lawyer in Yerevan or a citizen in a remote village,
00:20 you should get the services you need clearly,
00:23 quickly and fairly.
00:24 One of the most visible ways people interact with the state
00:29 is through public registries,
00:30 and one of the most important is the business register.
00:34 It's more than a database.
00:36 It's where companies are born.
00:38 Identities are confirmed and transparency begins.
00:41 For too long,
00:43 starting a business in Armenia
00:45 meant dealing with forms,
00:47 photocopies,
00:48 office visits,
00:49 and signatures,
00:50 sometimes just to fix a typo.
00:52 There were barriers to innovation and trust.
00:56 To overcome them,
00:57 we have to rethink the system from the ground up.
01:00 Digital reforms of course is never easy.
01:03 We faced fragmented legacy systems that could not talk to each other,
01:08 limited internal IT capacity,
01:11 and something we call paper loyalty,
01:14 a deep institutional attachment to the physical documents,
01:18 courts,
01:18 notaries,
01:19 registers.
01:20 They were built on paper.
01:21 Paper was evidence,
01:23 stamp was.
01:24 Power.
01:25 With the support of the World Bank,
01:27 we turned vision into action.
01:29 We began by listening to users,
01:32 officials,
01:32 and businesses,
01:33 mapping real pain points and redesigning processes.
01:37 A new digital business register is set for full roll out this month.
01:42 The new system will soon allow
01:44 all types of legal entities to register digitally.
01:48 It's fully integrated with other state platforms and most importantly,
01:54 100% of the source code now belongs to the Ministry of Justice,
02:00 making a major step towards digital sovereignty.
02:03 But even when the digital tool works,
02:06 trust
02:07 takes time.
02:08 Just last month,
02:09 a young entrepreneur from a small town.
02:12 Registered online
02:14 as a sole proprietor.
02:16 No paperwork.
02:18 No queues,
02:18 no back and forths with officials.
02:21 But when he received his certificate instantly,
02:23 he panicked and called us.
02:26 Is it real?
02:27 Should I come to the office to validate it?
02:29 That call reminded us
02:32 technology builds the platform,
02:34 but confidence makes it work.
02:37 This reform is more than a tech upgrade.
02:40 It is institutional change.
02:42 Next,
02:43 we are embedding AI tools from chatbots that guide users to smart tools that help
02:49 detect risk.
02:50 We are shifting from one-time transactions to live events.
02:54 Journeys.
02:56 If there is one lesson we have learned,
02:59 it is this digital reforms
03:02 isn't about it.
03:03 It's about trust.
03:05 It's about building bridges between people and institutions
03:09 and making sure
03:11 everyone can cross.
- lp-body-content
- lp-body-content
Other parts of the Armenian government also have been making the journey towards modernizing public services. The State Revenue Committee began integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into its tax administration, using AI to read invoices, detect fraud rings, and flag anomalies like duplicate filings and identity mismatches, all of which help to raise tax compliance. The Ministry of Interior Affairs is working to design a digital system through which citizens can easily manage their citizenship and life events.
Since its inception in 2022, the World Bank’s Fourth Public Sector Modernization project in Armenia has received complementary financial support from the Governance & Institutions Umbrella Program (G&I), a multi-donor partnership program administered by the World Bank. Through the G&I grant 'Public Sector Modernization and GovTech to Enhance Transparency, Accountability, and Access to Services in Armenia', the government is receiving technical assistance and policy recommendations to digitally transform its public administration at the central and local government levels.
A G&I-funded report advised the Ministry of Justice on the legal and regulatory changes needed to make its e-Notary system work better. Now, both citizens and businesses can use the electronic filing system at any time of the day and night to obtain notary services. As Narek Tovmasyan's testimonial above showcases, addressing these critical areas not only improves public service delivery but also helps drive job creation in Armenia by making it easier to register and run a business.
The Government of Armenia and the World Bank are continuing to work together on projects like these, aiming to enhance the efficiency of public services, expand access to information, foster innovation, and simplify administrative processes. Service portals and mobile platforms play a central role in creating more economic opportunities, building trust in public institutions, attracting investments, and often generating new jobs for citizens. The efforts also promote transparency, strengthen civic engagement, and ensure that all members of society, including those who are marginalized, can easily access essential public services.
The work featured in this story is financed by the World Bank’s Governance and Institutions Umbrella Program (G&I). G&I is a multi-donor trust fund established in 2022. It receives generous support from the Federal Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Austria, Global Affairs Canada, the Chandler Foundation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, the European Union, the Hewlett Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Korea, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), and the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). To learn more, please visit www.worldbank.org/giup.
RELATED
- lp-body-content