A representative of the Armenian National Assembly in the Constitutional Court has petitioned the top court to postpone the July 7 hearing on the legality of Article 300.1 of Armenia’s Criminal Code dealing with “overthrow of the constitutional order”, a provision which is at issue in former President Robert Kocharyan’s case.
The official has asked the court to provide the National Assembly with the Armenian versions of the advisory opinions issued by the ECHR and the Venice Commission on the matter, as well as set a reasonable period of time for lawmakers to get acquainted with them, the parliament’s press service reported.
Earlier in July 2019, Kocharyan and his lawyers, as well as judge Davit Grigoryan of the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction asked the highest court of Armenia to determine the constitutionality of Article 300.1.
The Constitutional Court in turn decided to request an advisory opinion on the matter from the ECHR and the Venice Commission, which offered their assessments in May and June this year, respectively.
In the meantime, Kocharyan’s lawyers decided to withdraw their appeal from the Constitutional Court a few days ago.