ARM-2003-2-004

a) Armenia / b) Constitutional Court / c)  / d) 15-07-2003 / e) DCC-437 / f) On conformity with the Constitution of obligations provided by Protocol no. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the abolition of the death penalty / g) Tegekagir (Official Gazette) / h) CODICES (French).

Keywords of the Systematic Thesaurus:

Keywords of the alphabetical index:

Death penalty, abolition, by ratification of an international treaty / European Convention on Human Rights, Protocol no. 6.

Headnotes:

The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia permits the death penalty as a "temporary" and "exclusive" punishment while at the same time leaving the issue of the determination or non-determination of the death penalty for certain serious offenses to the discretion of the National Assembly. The National Assembly has the power to abolish the death penalty not only by adopting the appropriate amendments to national legislation, but also by ratification of an international legal instrument, in the this case, Protocol no. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the abolition of the death penalty.

Summary:

The President of the Republic of Armenia applied to the Constitutional Court seeking a determination of the compatibility of the obligations under the above-mentioned Protocol with the Constitution.

The Constitutional Court stated that the Republic of Armenia, upon becoming a party to the European Convention on Human Rights and Protocols nos. 1, 4 and 7, had assumed an obligation to establish the rule of law in the country, reform some state institutions and continue the democratisation of social and political life in order to make them compatible with the standards existing in European countries.

After declaring its independence and becoming a party to most of the important universal and regional international treaties on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, Armenia recognised a human being, his/her life and health, honor and dignity, personal integrity as a supreme social value.

The highest legal guarantee of the protection of human rights is the Constitution of the Republic. The right to life is one of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. The Constitution, recognising that right as an absolute and unalienable right, sets out in [ENG-ARM-A-45] Article 45 of the Constitution that that right cannot be restricted under any circumstances. The right to life is enshrined in Article 17 of the Constitution, which allows for only one derogation from that right: that of the death penalty. According to that provision, "death penalty, until its abolition, may be prescribed by law for particular serious crimes, as an exceptional punishment".

The Constitutional Court held that a systematic consideration of the Constitution, as well as the content of international treaties concluded by the Republic of Armenia, indicated that the Republic rejected the death penalty as a kind of punishment and provided for the abolition of the use of a penalty as a rule.

Article 17 of the Constitution permits the death penalty as a "temporary" and "exclusive" punishment, and it provides that this punishment may be prescribed only "for serious offenses" by law as an exclusive punishment.

According to [ENG-ARM-A-62] Article 62 of the Constitution, the National Assembly exercises the legislative power. The Constitution leaves the issue of the determination or non-determination of the death penalty for certain serious crimes to the discretion of the National Assembly. The latter may abolish the death penalty not only by adopting the appropriate amendments to national legislation, but also by ratification of an international legal instrument, including the international treaties that provide for punishments other than those provided for by the national legislation.

The Constitutional Court held that the discussion and resolution of the issue of the ratification of an international treaty abolishing the death penalty is fully within the powers of the National Assembly, as Article 17 of the Constitution made the temporary existence of the death penalty conditional on the will of the National Assembly, which has a power to abolish the death penalty not only by amending the national legislation, but also by ratifying an international treaty.

The Constitutional Court declared the obligations under Protocol no. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the abolition of the death penalty compatible with the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia.

Languages:

Armenian, French (translation by the Court).