Opinion on Making Amendments in the RA Constitutional Law on “Judicial Code” and in the RA Law on “Constitutional Court”

The Protection of Rights without Borders NGO and the Transparency International anti-corruption Center NGO published a mutual opinion on “Making Amendments in the RA Constitutional Law on “Judicial Code” and “Making Amendments in the Constitutional Law on “Constitutional Court” draft laws respectively.

By the draft laws, it is recommended to define an opportunity to terminate the powers  of a judges and members of Supreme Judicial Council respectively on the ground of the incompatibility based on the fact of violation recorded by a legal act adopted by international court through the participation of the Republic of Armenia or by other international instances respectively.

Under such conditions, despite the low level of trust towards the judiciary in the Republic of Armenia, the availability of systematic problems, which have been voiced for many years both in domestic and international instances, giving a retroactive force to the norms  deteriorating the status of a judge without constitutional ground and clear regulations contradict the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia and international agreements. 

Therefore, we consider that the amendments recommended by the draft laws in the scope of raising the trust towards the judiciary can be realized exclusively through the changes of the RA Constitution.

We recommend.

To remove the draft law from circulation.

To organize consultations with partner civil society organizations to elaborate a legislative package directed towards the restoration of the judiciary.