The Phenomenon of Constitution in Armenian Political and Legal Thought

Valery V. Poghossian
Member of Constitutional Court
of the Republic of Armenia

 

SUMMARY

The conception of "constitution" is being used in Armenian language since olden times. Indicative of this could be even if the "Canonical Constitution" of the king Vachagan.

A very special place in Armenian reality has a work "Trap for Vanity" by Sh.Shahamirian (published in Madras in 1773, republished in 1913 in Tiflis). The second part of this work is an integral Constitution of Armenia. This project of a constitution was destined for the future liberated independant and democratic Armenia.

Naturally a question raises: how we can explain the fact that a constitution was composed for a country that did not yet have a statehood?

Such case was already well-known in an Armenian reality (the Code of Law by Mckhitar Gosh, created in 1184 at the time when Armenia did not have a statehood).

We can just assume that both Mckhitar Gosh and Sh.Shahamirian were guided by an unfading idea of restoration of the Armenian statehood.

Sh.Shahamirian entitled his book "Trap for Vanity" meaning that the constitution must become an instrument that should defend from authoritative temptations, that should deter the outrages of the officials and also the legislative, executive and judicial branches of power in general.

In 1863 the Turkish government confirmed and officially allowed to use the "National Constitution" in the internal life of the Armenian Community and to be guided by it.

And again a question raises: why namely the constitution was created to regulate and control the life of the Community? And as in the previous case as well as for now the legal side of the question was not the important part. The thing is that all mentioned thinkers were trying to determine and resolve a political problem in the first place:

  1. to promote the restoration of the statehood and for this purpose to increase and to augment the spirit of national-liberation movement;
  2. to inspirit certain orientation and an ideological background for the national-liberation movement;

  3. to create special works which after the restoration of the statehood could be directly used practically and thereby would promote a quick formation of the statehood.