ArmInfo. President of the Venice  Commission Gianni Buquicchio sent a response letter to former  President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia  Hrayr Tovmasyan.

According to the press service of the Constitutional Court, the  letter says in particular: “I closely followed developments related  to constitutional changes in Armenia. I regret that they do not  comply with the clear recommendations of the Venice Commission. I can  only urge respect for the Constitution. This is a fundamental  requirement of the rule of law>.

To recall, on June 24, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian signed a  package of bills, including those related to amendments to the law on  the Constitutional Court. The relevant amendments were approved by  the National Assembly at an extraordinary meeting on June 22.  According to the amendments, the powers of the judges of the  Constitutional Court Felix Tokhyan, Hrant Nazarian and Alvina  Gyulumyan, who had been in office for more than 12 years, were  terminated. Already former head of the Constitutional Court Hrayr  Tovmasyan will continue to work as a judge.

The chairman and deputy chairman of the Constitutional Court will be  elected after the approval of the full composition of the Court (9  judges). Moreover, the current composition of 6 judges is sufficient  for the legality of the convened meetings, that is, the activities of  the Constitutional Court will not be interrupted.  According to the  law, in the absence of the chairman and deputy chairman of the  Constitutional Court, the powers of the chairman are temporarily  performed by the oldest judge, that is, Ashot Khachatryan.