ARM-2016-3-002
a) Armenia / b) Constitutional Court / c)
/ d) 18-10-2016 / e) DCC-1315 / f) On
the conformity with the Constitution of provisions of the Administrative
Procedure Code / g) Tegekagir (Official
Gazette) / h) .
Keywords of the
Systematic Thesaurus:
|
General Principles - Proportionality. |
|
|
Fundamental Rights - Civil and
political rights - Procedural safeguards, rights of the defence
and fair trial - Access to courts. |
Keywords of the
alphabetical index:
Case, fresh examination, counter-claim.
Headnotes:
Regulations to the
effect that during a fresh examination of a case the cause of action, the
subject-matter of the claim or the amount being demanded in the claim cannot be
changed and a counter-claim cannot be filed are out of line with the principles
of proportionality, effective judicial protection and fair trial.
Summary:
I. The applicant
challenged certain regulations of the Administrative Procedure Code which
stated that during a fresh examination of a case the cause of action, the
subject-matter of the claim or the amount being demanded in the claim cannot be
changed; a counter-claim cannot be filed.
II. The
Constitutional Court noted that this restriction on the opportunity to file a
counterclaim did not stand in the way of the right to access to court as such;
the person concerned could always file a separate claim in accordance with the
Administrative Procedure Code. However, this type of limitation in the
framework of concrete legal relations could be out of line with the
constitutional principle of proportionality and inconsistent with the right to
effective judicial protection and the constitutional provisions whereby
everyone should have the right to a fair and public hearing of his or her case,
within a reasonable time period and by an independent and impartial court.
Armenian.