Armenian president to dispute constitutionality of draft judicial reforms

President Armen Sarkissian will apply to the Constitutional Court to dispute the conformity of the recently proposed amendments to the Judicial Code with the Constitution of Armenia.

The bill, submitted for approval on March 22, was earlier discussed with, and received clarifications from, the minister of justice and the chairperson of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee of State and Legal Affairs. It was also considered with the chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, legal scholars, experts, advocates and civil society representative,

Attaching a major importance to reforms in the judiciary and prioritizing their systemic nature based on a specific strategy, the president emphasized the need to address the existing practical and existing concerns relying on expert studies and analysis of the best international practice (to propose systemic and logically interconnected solutions aimed at raising the role and efficiency of the judicary, ensuiring the effective exercise of the right to a fair trial, as well a strengthening the guarantees for the independence and immunity of judges).

The president has cited conflicting provisions with the basic law, considering the proposed regulations “situational” and “apparently problematic” in terms of legal certainty, proportionality, sararation of powers, as well as the constitutional principles and requirements of ensuring the judiciary’s independence.