Wednesday, October 30 2019 15:23

ArmInfo.Armenian Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan sees the need to update the bench of judges of the Constitutional Court. He stated this on October 30 in  an interview with reporters, answering a question about the statement  of the President of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio about the  situation around the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia.

As the Minister noted, Armenia welcomed the statement of the head of  the Venice Commission, which was noted. "I agree with his opinion  that the situation around the Constitutional Court should finally be  resolved, which will allow to transfer the work of this body into a  natural direction," Badasyan said. At the same time, he noted that  mutual respect, to which Gianni Buquicchio called, is hardly  appropriate in relation to the head of the Constitutional Court Hrayr  Tovmasyan. This problem, as the minister pointed out, was not born  today, but when the election of the head of the Constitutional Court  was held, and these actions are contrary to the spirit of the  Constitution. Speaking about the possibility of the resignation of  members of the Constitutional Court, the minister stressed that when  they reach retirement age it will become clear which of them intends  to resign.

To recall, yesterday the chairman of the Venice Commission Gianni  Buquicchio made a statement on the situation around the  Constitutional Court of Armenia, in which he called on the parties  "to show restraint, mutual respect and constructive institutional  cooperation in order to mitigate this alarming situation and resume  the normal functioning of the Armenian Constitution".  Stressing that  he had been closely monitoring the situation in Armenia for several  months, Gianni Buquicchio in his statement noted: I am very  preoccupied about the open conflict between on the one side the  Government and Parliament and on the other side the Constitutional  Court.

The quick succession and mediatisation of recent events do not  contribute to a serene settlement of the problems.  The President of  the Venice Commission also noted: "In a Democracy, the parliament is  the depositary of popular sovereignty and thus enjoys the highest  democratic legitimacy.  The constitutional court is a safeguard  institution, entrusted with upholding constitutional values.  In a  democratic country, all State institutions and office holders have to  respect their own prerogatives, obligations and competences and  acknowledge and respect those of the other institutions. They have to  exercise appropriate institutional restraint, observe the relevant  procedures in good faith and display respect for each other.  If this  is not done, if there lacks democratic culture and maturity, the  functioning of the state institutions is compromised and the  democratic, civil and economic progress of the society is  jeopardized.  I call on all sides to exercise restraint, mutual  respect and constructive institutional cooperation in order to  de-escalate this worrying situation and re-establish the normal  operation of the Constitution of Armenia".