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    Categories: 2020

Gohar Meloyan: We are going to form the "NO" campaign group

Arminfo, Armenia
Feb 14 2020

ArmInfo. Guarantee of legal security is a vital condition for the existence of any state.  Constitutional Law Specialist Gohar Meloyan said on February 14 in  the discussions "Constitutional Security. Challenges and Solutions".

"It is a pity that in the 21st century, when there are so many  different challenges in the world, such as possible environmental  disasters or threats of the coronavirus, we are faced with the  problem of legal security in our country. Guaranteed legal security  is a vital condition for the existence of any state. Legal security  is to ensure the constitutional security of the country, "she  stressed.

Meloyan also spoke about threats to legal security. "The threat to  legal security is a possible lack of constitutionality, which we  witness today. This is such a situation when there is a gap between  constitutional norms in the country and the factual situation. That  is, when a political force leaves these circles, acting out of its  interests, "the expert said.

According to her, another threat is the inconsistent enforcement of  the rule of law. "The rule of law is one of the most important  pillars of any legal state, the elements of which are law, the  prohibition of arbitrariness, the creation and maintenance of justice  by impartial courts. Of course, we are witnessing the violation of  all these important pillars," Meloyan emphasized.

If the "Yes" initiative wins, then the situation will actually arise  that the powers of seven judges of the Constitutional Court will be  terminated. "We do not have domestic court, which judges could apply  to restore their violated rights. In this case, such a body would be  the European Court of Human Rights. There is some practice when the  powers of judges in different countries have been suspended. In such  cases, the ECHR not only obliged to compensate for material and moral  damage, but also obliged the state to restore the powers of these  judges, "said the expert.

Meloyan noted that in this case a situation will arise when a new  Constitutional Court will be formed, and it will be unclear how the  ECtHR requirement will be implemented. "In addition, a situation will  arise when the Constitutional Court is formed solely by one political  force, which leads to a violation of the impartiality and objectivity  of the court, as well as to the destruction of the principle of  delimitation of branches of government," she said.

Meloyan also stated that representatives of the legal community will  form a ''No'' campaigning group, but will not submit a political  application.

It should be noted that on February 6, the parliament adopted a  referendum decision at which Armenian citizens will decide whether  they agree to amend the Constitution of the country. On April 5, a  constitutional referendum will be held in Armenia, at which the issue  of judges of the Constitutional Court will be decided. Many MPs and  human rights activists said that this decision is unconstitutional,  since initially the MPs had to send their proposal to the  Constitutional Court.

According to the decision adopted on February 11 at the CEC meeting,  the campaign will be held from February 17 to April 3.

Emil Lazarian: “I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS