ARM-2009-2-003

 

a)                  Armenia / b) Constitutional Court / c) / d) 08.05.2009 / e) DCC-803 / f) On the conformity  with the Constitution of Indention 1, Part 3, Article 10 of the RA Electoral Code / g) to be published in Tegekagir (Official Gazette) / h).

 

Keywords of the systematic thesaurus:

4.8 Institutions - Federalism, regionalism and self-government – Municipalities

4.9 Institutions – Elections and instruments of direct democracy

5.3.41.1 Fundamental rights-Civil and political rights –Electoral rights-Right to vote

 

Keywords of the alphabetical index:

Local self-government / Lists of voters / registered persons.

 

 

Headnotes:

“Self-government” and “community” notions are interdependent and the community is a commonwealth of residents of the same settlement. Consequently, person is entitled to participate in the elections of local self-government bodies on the basis of being resident of that settlement.

 

Summary:

The Constitutional Court on the basis of the individual normative complaint of the “Armenian National Congress” pre-election alliance has entertained the issue of constitutionality of Part 3 of Article 10 of the Electoral Code of the Republic of Armenia. According to the Applicant, in law-implementing practice the disputed norm has been interpreted and implemented in the manner that it was considered lawful to include the citizens, who are permanent residents, but not registered in the community, in voter list in local elections. According to Applicant the disputed norm is formulated so indefinitely that the Central Electoral Commission and the Administrative Court interpret and implement it in the manner not consisting with norms of Articles 2,4,11.1,30,105 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia.

The Constitutional Court in the result of comparable analysis of the norms of the Constitution and current legislation relating to the institute of local self-government has found out that “self-government” and “community” notions are interdependent and the community is a commonwealth of residents of the same settlement. Consequently, person is entitled to participate in the elections of local self-government bodies on the basis of being resident of that settlement: Article 5 of the RA Law on Local Self-government defines the notion of resident, according to which « A person registered in a community shall be considered a resident of such community».

Analyzing the election legislation the Constitutional Court has fixed that within the electoral legal relationship registration of residents is conducted according to their settlement. The system of domiciliary registration of citizens has been introduced also by the RA Law on State Registration of Population. The latter at the same time has constituted such a procedure of registration that provides registration of every person residing in the Republic of Armenia, aiming at excluding the presence of any person without registration in the Republic of Armenia.

With respect to disputed norm the Constitutional Court found that Indention 1 of Paragraph 3 of Article 10 of the RA Electoral Code had been interpreted in such a way that the voter lists could also include persons not residing in that community. It does not consist with the constitutional meaning of local self-government. The above-mentioned norm should be implemented within national elections to make the lists of voters, and this approach will not arise any issue of constitutionality.

Paragraph 4 of Article 10 of the RA Electoral Code concerns making the voter lists in the local election, the legal contents of which («Everyone with the right to vote in local self-government elections shall be included in voter lists compiled during local self-government elections, on general grounds») is definite and unambiguous, as in local elections, according to that legal norms, only the residents of that community can exercise their suffrage or, according to Article 5 of the RA Law on Self-government, elective persons registered in a community.

Based on the above-mentioned the Constitutional Court found that the Applicant’s statement of question that persons without any registration could not be included in voter lists of in the local elections, was founded.

The Constitutional Court in the result of analysis of legislation, constituted that citizens of the Republic of Armenia registered in that community, who have attained the age of 18 years, as well as, persons registered at least one year and factually residing in that community, but are not citizens of the Republic of Armenia, shall have the right to elect in local self-government elections.

The Constitutional Court found that the disputed norms are in conformity with the RA Constitution within the legal opinions expressed in this decision.

 

Languages:

 

Armenian