Tuesday, October 22 2019 11:59

ArmInfo. The reform of the Constitution in order to resolve the situation in the judicial system of Armenia has ripened for a long time. A similar opinion was  expressed to ArmInfo by the head of the parliamentary faction of the  Bright Armenia Party Edmon Marukyan.

"I don't have any information whether our authorities intend to  initiate these reforms. But I know that according to the Strategy for  reforming the judicial field approved by the government, Armenia will  once again go through the reform of the Constitution. Considering  that there are many problems, moreover, not only in the  Constitutional Court, but also in the courts of first instance, the  Court of Appeal, the Court of Cassation, such a reform is a  necessary, "he said.

According to the politician, citizens face problems every day in all  the above-mentioned institutions, but they rarely turn to the  Constitutional Court to resolve them. Marukyan considers  inappropriate that against the backdrop of this vast amount of  problems in the judicial system, the country has today concentrated  on the chairman of the Constitutional Court Hrayr Tovmasyan.

In this light, the politician considers it necessary to stop the  possibility of using this situation by Tovmasyan, his lawyers, and  the former government against the institutional authorities of the  new Armenia. According to him, everything needs to be done to prevent  the possibility of pinning on Tovmasyan a label of a victim of  political persecution.

"Already today, former Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan claims  that the criminal case brought against Tovmasyan on taking power is  contrary to the European Convention. Meanwhile, according to the RA  Code of Criminal Procedure, Tovmasyan does not have the status of an  accused or even a suspect. But I don't think that Tovmasyan will do  the same, since in this case he will have to state that he is the  accused.  Meanwhile, in order to bring him on the case as the  accused, it is necessary to obtain the relevant permission of the  Constitutional Court. All this had to be considered before starting a  criminal case against him, " Marukyan concluded.

On October 4, the National Assembly of Armenia adopted an appeal to  the Constitutional Court on termination of the office of Hrayr  Tovmasyan, prepared by the parliamentary faction of the "My Step"  bloc with 98 votes in favor and 1 vote against. The initiative of the  ruling party was initially supported by colleagues from the Bright  Armenia faction.

On September 14, the Constitutional Court of Armenia rejected the  consideration of the deprivation of authority of its head Hrayr  Tovmasyan. In the clarifications submitted on October 18, the  Constitutional Court pointed out the inconsistency of the terminology  in the parliament's appeal regarding the use of the wording "judge,  member of the Constitutional Court" and the deviation in this regard  from the norms of the laws "On the Constitutional Court" and "Rules  of Procedure of the National Assembly". The Constitutional Court also  indicated that the appeal of the parliament was filed in violation of  the deadlines established by law.