a) Armenia / b) Constitutional Court / c)
/ d) 20-12-2016 / e) DCC-1333 / f) On
the conformity with the Constitution of provisions of the Criminal Procedure
Code/ g) Téghékagir (Official
Gazette) / h) .
Keywords of the
Systematic Thesaurus:
|
Fundamental Rights - Civil and
political rights - Freedom of expression. |
|
|
Fundamental Rights - Civil and
political rights - Rights of the child. |
Keywords of the
alphabetical index:
Child, interests, priority.
Headnotes:
The right of the child
to be heard should not be subject to age limitations; this is not required by
the Constitution and the legislative provisions in question did not envisage
this. The body conducting the proceedings must facilitate the child’s right to
be heard and make its decision with the interests of the child as its guiding
principle.
Summary:
I. The applicant
challenged a regulation of the Criminal Procedure Code whereby the rights of a
juvenile or an incapacitated injured person are not exercised by them but by
their legal representatives.
II. The
Constitutional Court noted the constitutional provisions to the effect that a
child is entitled to express his or her opinion freely. This opinion, along
with the age and maturity of the child, will be taken into consideration in
matters concerning him or her. In matters concerning the child, the main focus
must be the interests of the child.
These constitutional
provisions did not envisage any limitation depending on age or any other
matter, although the child’s age and level of maturity would be taken into
account. They also placed the public authority under a clear obligation to pay
primary attention to the interests of the child.
The Constitutional Court
found that the objective of the constitutional norm was, in matters concerning
the interests of the child, if different interests were in play, to protect the
interests of the child as a priority. Where there is a collision between these
interests, the public authority must protect the interests of the child.
The Constitutional Court
stated that the provisions of the Constitution were of direct application;
judicial practice had to be guided by the demands therein.
Armenian.