We will have the Constitutional Court envisioned from our constitution in 2035, not a day before, because the representatives of the previous government, as a result of certain manipulations, for example, have elected the Constitutional Court (CC) president who shall hold office until 2035. Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this during a February 13 discussion at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung).
“That is to say, in spite of our Constitution, no CC presidential election will be held for 18 years,” he added, in particular.
According to Pashinyan, although the Constitution stipulates that CC judges can serve for 12 years, as a result of these legislative manipulations, if nothing changes, the majority of CC members shall be in office for 25-30 years.
“This is just an unacceptable situation for us,” he added. “The existence of such a CC in general casts doubt on the system of institutional reforms in Armenia, because it is a party CC, and that party is the party which led Armenia into a corrupt system and which today dreams of failing democracy in Armenia.
We cannot tolerate such a situation. And what have we done? We have put the issue to a nationwide referendum, whereby we propose that those CC members whose tenure does not meet the conditions and requirements set by the current Constitution will be terminated, and that we have a CC that meets the Constitution.”
He added that the judicial reform is now on the National Assembly’s agenda, according to which all newly appointed judges will pass an integrity check at the Corruption Prevention Commission.
“The impartiality of our judges is a mandatory condition, and we must provide such conditions,” Pashinyan added. “Armenia exists and will continue to be a democratic state. I hope that all our international partners will support our country in continuing this important process.”
