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2012

December 7, 2012

MEETING IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

On December 6, G. Harutyunyan, President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia met Professor Frank Emmert (Doctor of International, Comparative and European Union Law at Indiana University School of Law, USA), who was accompanied with A. Hakobyan and G. Torosyan, professors of the Chair of European and International Law of Yerevan State University.

The interlocutors discussed the issues concerning the international symposium, which will be organized next July in Yerevan, as well as the issues concerning the preparation of publication of collection of articles titled "Constitutionality of the New Millennium, Paradigms and Challenges of Reality".

They also referred to the basic perspectives of cooperation of the Republic of Armenia with the European Union, as well as bringing the RA legal system in commitment with the EU legislation.

The RA CC Press Service

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November 17, 2012

MEETINGS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE RA CONSTITUTIONAL COURT IN STRASBOURG

From November 14-16, 2012 Mr. Gagik Harutyunyan, the President of the RA CC, who was in Strasbourg within the frames of the working visit, had meeting with Mr. D. Spielmann, the newly elected President of the European Court of Human Rights. Mr. G. Harutyunyan congratulated Mr. Spielmann with his election at the position of the President of the ECHR.

During the meeting there were discussed the topics regarding the implementation of the conference, entitled “The European Legal Standards and the Scope of Discretion of Powers in the Member-States of the Council of Europe”, which will take place in Yerevan in the beginning of July 2013 and will be organized within the frames of the Armenian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The President of the Constitutional Court invited the President of the European Court of Human Rights to participate to the mentioned conference.

With several other Judges of the ECHR and Ms. I. Ziemele, the Section President of the ECHR, there were also discussed topics related to the preparation and publication of the international digest entitled “New Millennium Constitutionalism; Paradigms of Reality and Changes”.

During the meeting with Mr. Gianni Buquicchio, the President of the Venice Commission, the both parties emphasized the important role of the Commission in the analysis of the RA Laws drafts, and both parties expressed their gladness for the high level of cooperation and for the deepening and development of relationship, as well as they referred to the participation of the President and members of the Secretariat of the Venice Commission to the Conference, which will be held in Yerevan in the beginning of July 2013.

(The source: the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
The RA CC Press Service

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October 5, 2012

XVII YEREVAN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE HAS STARTED

International ConferenceOn October 5th, 2012 started XVII YEREVAN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, which this year was organized in Dilijan City.

The good tradition of organization and implementation of the annual Yerevan International Conferences has been established by the RA Constitutional Court and the RA Constitutional Law Center, in partnership with the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) of the Council of Europe, since 1996.

Later on, several other institutions, such as the International Organization “Conference of Constitutional Control Bodies of the States of New Democracy”, the RA National Assembly, the International Association of Constitutional Law, the RA Lawyers Union, Yerevan Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), also supported the organization of the conferences.

And now this year XVII International Conference takes place in Dilijan City.

The activities of the Conference were opened by Mr. Gagik Harutyunyan, the RA CC President, who welcomed the participants. He emphasized the importance of the traditional conference, as an important platform for cooperation and exchange of experience between the constitutional courts of different states and international legal institutions and also emphasized the great opportunity to introduce Armenia to the guests. Mostly by this last fact is conditioned the organization of the conferences in various cities of Armenia, as it was also last year, when XVI International Conference was held in Jermuk City.

Mr. Evgueny Tanchev, the President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria, made an opening speech on the behalf of the Venice Commission.

Mr. Hrayr Tovmasyan, the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, Mr. Andrey Sorokin, the Head of Yerevan Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Mr. Vardan Poghosyan, the Head of Yerevan Office of GIZ, addressed to the participants of the Conference with the greeting speeches.

During two plenary session of the first of the Conference several reports and presentations were made, particularly Mr. Gagik Harutyunyan, the President of the RA Constitutional Court, made the report entitled “The Guarantees of Execution of the decisions of the Constitutional Court”, Ms. Françoise Tulkens, the Vice-President of the European Court of Human Rights, made the report entitled “The Execution of the Decisions of the European Court of Human Rights from the viewpoint of the Court”, Mr. Gunārs Kūtris, the President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia, made the report entitled “Interaction between the Constitutional Court of Latvia and other Institutions in Ensuring the Execution of the Constitutional Court Judgments”, Mr. Egidijus Kuris, the Professor of Vilnius University, made the report entitled “On the Finality of Constitutional Court Decisions”, Mr. Štefan Harabin, the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic, made the report entitled “Interaction between the Constitutional Court of Slovak Republic and other State Institutions in Ensuring the Execution of the Constitutional Court Judgments”, Mr. Dragiša Slijepčević, the President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia, made the report entitled “The Impact of the Constitutional Court Decisions on Legislative Process in Serbia”, Mr. Aghvan Hovsepyan, the General Prosecutor of the Republic of Armenia, made the report entitled “Interaction between the RA Constitutional Court and the RA Prosecutor General’s Office”, Mr. Anatolii Holovin, the President of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, made the report entitled “Several Problematic Issues of Execution of the Decisions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine by the Ukrainian State Institutions”.

After the presentations and reports there were conducted active exchange of opinions and thematic discussions.

For the first day of the Conference is also envisaged a cultural program during which the participants of the Conference will visit Haghartsin Monastery.

The RA CC Press Service

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October 3, 2012

ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

International ConferenceOn October 5th, 2012 XVII Yerevan International Conference will start its activities at “Dilijan Resort” Hotel of Dilijan City.

The main organizers of the conference are the RA Constitutional Court, the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) of the Council of Europe, the Conference of Constitutional Control Organs of the Countries of New Democracy. The project will be implemented also by the support of Yerevan Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Yerevan Office of the German International Cooperation (GIZ).

The topic of this year conference is “Interaction between Constitutional Court and Other Institutions in Ensuring the Execution of the Constitutional Court Judgments”.

During 5 plenary sessions of 2 day conference there will be presented more than 20 reports/presentations and the respective discussions will be conducted on them. The discussions on the guarantees of execution of different states constitutional courts judgments and provision of the constitutional justice will become the best platform for the experts from different states to share their experience. Moreover, in the nearest future all the reports, discussions and materials of the conference will be available already in the four-language “Almanac”, which is being published by the RA Constitutional Law Centre and is delivered to more 60 states around the world.

The Head of Yerevan Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Vice-President of the European Court of Human Rights, the Chairpersons of the Constitutional Courts of Armenia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Latvia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Tajikistan, the Chairman of the Supreme Court of Slovakia, the Chairman of the Constitutional Council of Kazakhstan, the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Republic of Armenia and the justices of constitutional courts of about 20 states are going to participate and make reports during the activities of the conference.

The RA Minister of Justice, the RA General Prosecutor, the President of the RA Cassation Court, the heads and representatives of the non-governmental organizations will participate to the activities of the conference on the behalf of the Republic of Armenia.

The organizers have envisaged an interesting cultural program for the participants, particularly visits to Hagartsin and Goshavank.

The RA CC Press Service

August 21, 2012

THE AMBASSADOR OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AT THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

On August 21th, 2012 Mr. G. Harutyunyan, the President of the RA Constitutional Court had an official meeting with Mr. Tian Changchun, the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of Armenia.

Mr. Ambassador presented to the President of the RA CC special digest and the sample of the specially published stamp dedicated to the 20th anniversary of establishment of the diplomatic relations between two states.

The parties emphasized the importance of the development of the Armenian-Chinese relations in the legal sphere during the recent years.

The President of the RA CC on the behalf of the Court through the mediation of the Ambassador kindly invited the delegation of the National People's Congress of the People’s Republic of China to visit Armenia. It shall be mentioned that this body is authorized to implement constitutional justice in China. The RA CC President presented to H.E. Ambassador the text of his new article dedicated to the axiological peculiarities of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China.

During the meeting the parties also discussed several issues related to the further development of bilateral cooperation.

The RA CC Press Service

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August 9, 2012

DELEGATION FROM GERMANY

On August 8th, 2012 the delegation headed by Mr. Jörg-Uwe Hahn, the Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, Integration and European Affairs of the State of Hesse of the Federal Republic of Germany, visited the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia.

The main purpose of the visit of the delegation is to get acquainted with the current social-political developments in Armenia, the Armenian-German cooperation, as well as to discuss the possibilities of the further development of the cooperation between Armenia and the Federal State of Hesse.

The delegation included Ms. Heike Hofmann, Mr. Tobias Utter, Mr. Frank Sürmann, the Deputies of the Landtag of Hesse, Mr. Gregor Disson, the Executive Director of the Hesse Branch of “Chemical Industry Union” NGO, Mr. Andreas Von Halle, the Vice President of the Accounting Chamber of the Federal State of Hesse, Mr. Wolfgang Reimers, the Former Chairman of the Administrative Court, Mr. Helmut Dietrich, the Deputy Director of Geisenheim Research Institute, Mr. Mikhayel Herberger, the Representative of “Naidoo Herberger Produktion” Company, Mr. Ralph Knöll and Malaika Brosh, the staff members of the Ministry of Justice of the Federal State of Hesse, Ms. Kasja Boyajyan from BASF Company, Mr. Bedo Kurkiyan from the ARF delegation of the European Parliament.

Mr. G. Harutyunyan, the President of the RA Constitutional Court, introduced to the guests the work activities and judicial-procedural peculiarities of the activities of the RA CC, the role of the legal positions of the Constitutional Court in the formation of the case law, the international relations of the Court, in which the cooperation with the Federal Republic of Germany has significant role.

During the talks, the parties through discussion of several important topics, question and answering, bilaterally suggested to develop new type of cooperation between the RA Constitutional Court and the Constitutional Court of the Federal State of Hesse.

The RA CC Press Service

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July 12, 2012

VISIT OF THE AMBASSADOR OF IRAN TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

On July 12, 2012 Mr. G. Harutyunyan, the President of the RA Constitutional Court, had meeting with H.E. Mr. Mohammad Raiesi, the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Armenia.

The President of the Constitutional Court congratulated the newly appointed ambassador on the occasion of assignment in the new office and beginning of the diplomatic mission.

The Ambassador's visit was cognitive and Mr. Harutyunyan introduced to the guest the activities of the Constitutional Court, presented to him the cooperation of the previous ambassadors with the Constitutional Court and expressed hope that the cooperation would have effective continuation and development.

The Ambassador of the IRA presented his remarks on the implementation of future joint projects, as well as on strengthening of the Armenian-Iranian relationship.

The parties discussed also several issues connected with the legal sphere.

The RA CC Press Service

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July 12, 2012

THE RA DELEGATION IN GEORGIA

On July 6-7, 2012 the delegation of the RA Constitutional Court headed by Mr. G. Harutyunyan, the President of the RA Constitutional Court, upon the invitation to participate to the Black Sea Regional Conference on “the Right to Equality: Scope of Constitutional Protection" was in Batumi, Georgia. The Delegation included Mr. Valery Poghosyan, the Member of the RA CC, Mr. Vardan Poghosyan, the Head of “the Consultation for Legal and Judicial Reform in the South Caucasus” GIZ Project, Mr. K. Matevosyan, the Chairman of the RA Administrative Court, Mr. A. Babayan, the Judge of the RA Appeal Court, Ms. L. Iskandaryan, the First Class Specialist of the RA Ministry of Justice, Ms. A. Pkhrikyan, the Chief Specialist of the RA Constitutional Court and lawyer Artak Zeynalyan.

In the conference, which was organized by the Constitutional Court of Georgia and the GIZ Project “the Consultation for Legal and Judicial Reform in the South Caucasus”, were participating the Chairman/Presidents of the Constitutional Courts, Judges and experts of constitutional law from the South Caucasian states, Germany, Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia and Turkey.

During the plenary session Dr. Gagik Harutyunyan, the President of the RA CC, made report which was entitled “The Systemacy of Approaches in the Constitutional Courts during the Examination of Issues Regarding the Implementation of the Constitutional-Legal Principle of Equality”. Later the report was discussed by the participants through questions and discussions. Mr. V. Poghosyan, the Member of the RA CC, made another report on the behalf of the RA Delegation, which was dedicated to the analysis of the doctrinal approaches of the RA Constitutional Court regarding the implementation of the constitutional-legal principle of equality.

During the two working days of the conference were presented 15 reports/presentations. The delegates from the Venice Commission, Latvia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Germany made speeches. The Conference was conducted in the way of active discussion and became great platform for sharing the experience.

Mr. George Papuashvili, the President of the Constitutional Court of Georgia, summarized the results of the conference and particularly emphasized the fact of the tight cooperation of the Constitutional Courts of Armenia and Georgia and highlighted the importance of implementation of joint initiatives.

The RA CC Press Service

June 20, 2012

THE AMBASSADOR OF GERMANY AT THE RA CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

On June 20 Mr. G. Harutyunyan, the President of the RA Constitutional Court, had farewell meeting with Mr. Hans-Jochen Schmidt, the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Armenia. Mr. Harutyunyan expressed his thankfulness to the Ambassador for the tight cooperation with the RA Constitutional Court and implementation of various joint projects during his term in Armenia.

In his turn, Mr. Ambassador expressed his contentment for active cooperation of the Constitutional Courts of the Republic of Armenia and the Federal Republic of Germany and other institutions of two states. Both parties emphasized that those projects would be continuative.

The sides also discussed several other issues regarding the further implementation of joint projects.

The RA CC Press Service

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April 27, 2012

THE FAREWELL VISIT OF THE AMBASSADOR OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

On April 27th Mr. Gagik Harutyunyan, the President of the RA Constitutional Court, had meeting with Mr. Seyyed Ali Saghaia, the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Armenia.

Both parties expressed their contentment for the tight cooperation between the RA Constitutional Court and the Embassy, for the joint implementation of several cultural programs, for more strengthening of the Armenian-Iranian relationship.

Mr. Harutyunyan wished the Ambassador, who is finishing his term in Armenia, every success in his further work activities.

The RA CC Press Service

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April 23, 2012

THE DIASPORA WRITERS AT THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

On April 23rd Mr. G. Harutyunyan, the President of the RA Constitutional Court, on the basis of the request of many Diaspora writers, who were participating in the “Sixth Pan-Armenian Writers' Conference”, which was taking place in Armenia, had meeting with them.

An active discussion was conducted on the constitutional axiology, law and constitutional culture, issues of the national identity and on several other issues.

The guests knew that the President of RA CC is not only the author of numerous books on the legal topics, but also has conducted several researches on the cultural topics. Mostly because of that the presented topics and the discussions were diverse.

Mrs. Hranush Hakobyan, the RA Minster of Diaspora, and Mr. Levon Ananyan, the President of the Writers' Union of Armenia, were participating in the meeting.

The RA CC Press Service

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April 16, 2012

5th CONFERENCE OF THE SECRETARIES GENERAL IN YEREVAN

From April 13-14 the 5th International Conference of Secretaries General of Constitutional Courts or Courts with Equivalent Jurisdiction was held in Yerevan.

It was organized by the joint efforts of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) and the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia.

Such type of conferences, which are periodically organized by the Venice Commission, are perfect platform for presenting to each other the cooperation of the constitutional courts or courts with equivalent jurisdiction, making exchange of experience, highlighting the peculiarities of activities and working methods of secretariats and staffs. The organization of the conference in Armenia and participation of delegates from more than 25 states may be considered as an important evidence of the international recognition of the successes of our state in the sphere of the constitutional justice.

Mr. Gagik Harutyunyan, the President of the RA Constitutional Court, while making the opening ceremony of the conference, emphasized the constructive and active role of the Venice Commission and stretched out that the latter plays an important role in the sphere of cooperation of the constitutional courts on the European and global levels. It is highly important, that the Commission also pays special attention to the organization of the conferences of the staffs and secretaries general and considers their activities as one of the keys to the successful implementation of duties of the constitutional courts or courts with equivalent jurisdiction.

Ms. Tanja Gerwien, the representative of the Venice Commission, also made an opening speech.

The first session of the conference was chaired by Mr. G. Harutyunyan, the President of the RA CC and the topic of the session was “Procedural time-limits (time-limits for the applicants / time-limits for the Court)”.

During the session Mr. Erik Kerševan, the Secretary General of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia, Mr. Pavel Blokhin, an Independent Expert from Russia, Mr. Stefan Frank, the Deputy Secretary General of the Constitutional Court of Austria, and Dr. Diana Mecsi, the Head of Cabinet of the Constitutional Court of Hungary, made reports.

After the reports a comprehensive discussion was conducted.

After the first plenary session the participants of the conference visited the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia.

Mr. Harutyunyan introduced to the guests the activities of the RA Constitutional Court, the procedural peculiarities, emphasized the transparent activities of the Court, which is being implemented through free access of the citizens to the hearings and by the publication of all decisions of the Court and information about organized events on the official web page of the Constitutional Court.

The plenary session of April 14 was chaired by Mr. Erik Kerševan, the Secretary General of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia. The topic of the session was “Reactions to negative criticism of Court judgments”. Мs. Elena Kravchenko, the Secretary General of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Ms. Laila Jurcēna, the Adviser to the President at the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia, Mr. Francisco Morales Saravia, the Secretary General of the Constitutional Tribunal of Peru, Mr. Teodor Antić, the Secretary General of the Constitutional Court of Croatia, Ms. Lisa L. Rising, the Secretary General of the Supreme Court of Denmark made reports during the session.

An active discussion was conducted after the reports.

During the sessions and discussions several interesting and important suggestions were made, which hereinafter will surely be taken into consideration by the participants and will be used in their further activities. The exchange of experience will be also continued through the research of the materials of the conference, which all will be published in the three-language bulletin.

The organizers of the Conference paid also special attention to the cultural programme of the event. As most of the participants were in Armenia for the first time, for them the visits to the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin, the "Zvartnotz" Temple, the Garni temple and Geghard Monastery, Sergey Parajanov museum were surely remarkable. The guests also visited the Cicernakaberd, the memorial to the victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide and gave an honour to the memory of all victims of the Genocide.

The RA CC Press Service

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March 29, 2012

OSCE/ODIHR OBSERVERS AT THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

On the 29th of March Mr. G. Harutyunyan, the President of the RA Constitutional Court had a meeting with Radmila Šekerinska, the Head of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission of the Parliamentary Elections in Armenia, who was accompanied by the legal analysts Marla Morry and Kseniya Dashutsina.

Mr. Harutyunyan emphasized the importance of the role of the Election observation mission in the upcoming elections, presented to them in details the current peculiarities of the judicial protection of the electoral right of citizens and the role of the RA Constitutional Court in that context. Mr. Harutyunyan also presented to the Election observation mission the analysis on the present peculiarities of the judicial protection of the electoral right prepared by the Staff of the RA Constitutional Court (also available on the official webpage of the RA Constitutional Court).

A useful discussion was made on the issues raised by the Election observation mission.

The RA CC Press Service

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March 7, 2012

MEETING AT THE RA CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

On the 7th of March Mr. G. Harutyunyan, the President of the RA Constitutional Court, had meeting with Mr. Zdzislaw Raczynski, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to Armenia. By the request of the Ambassador, the President of the RA Constitutional Court introduced the guest not only the latest decisions of the Court and the outcomes of the international discussions of several issues, but also the present peculiarities of judicial protection of the electoral right in our country.

The Ambassador was also presented a brief reference on the abovementioned issue, prepared by the Staff of the RA Constitutional Court, according to which, the amendments in the legal regulation of the electoral procedures in Armenia occurred in recent years have had also important impact on the sphere of the judicial protection of the electoral right. First of all it refers to the 2005 Constitutional amendments, when Article 100 Point 3 of the Constitution, according to which the Constitutional Court was authorized to solve disputes, regarding the results of the elections of the President of the Republic and Deputies, was revised.

By Article 100, Point 3.1 of the present Constitution is stipulated new provision, according to which the Constitutional Court shall, in conformity with the procedure defined by law resolve all disputes arising from decisions adopted with regard to the elections of the President of the Republic and Deputies.

An important role in the issue of the judicial protection of the electoral right was preserved to the Administrative Court, functioning in the Republic of Armenia since 2008. Simultaneously, by Article 145 of the RA Administrative Procedure Code, adopted on November 28, 2007, it was determined, that the cases on challenging the lawfulness of administrative acts regarding the electoral lists of the candidates and parties, the registration of the candidates included in the lists, their non-registration, invalidation of the registration are considered on merits by the Administrative Court, collegially in a five–judges panel. The cases on challenging the lawfulness of the normative decisions of the Central Electoral Commission are also being considered by a same procedure.

It is also necessary to mention, that according to Article 150 of the RA Administrative Procedure Code in the cases regarding the protection of the electoral right the judicial acts of the Administrative Court, resolving the case on merits, are final, not subject to appeal and come into force from the moment of its publication.

Taking into account the judicial procedural peculiarities of the judicial protection of the electoral right as well as the system of jurisdiction, several articles of the RA Electoral Code, envisage that the particular electoral disputes are considered and resolved by the procedure prescribed by the Administrative Procedure Code. Particularly, according to Article 12 of the RA Electoral Code: “Disputes concerning inaccuracies in the lists of electors may be appealed against in the manner and within the time limits prescribed by the Administrative Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia”. The cases on clarification of the voters’ lists are considered by the first instance courts of general jurisdiction of the place of residence (forum domicilii) of the respondent according to the procedure prescribed by the Administrative Procedure Code (Article 145, Part 1, Point 2 of the Administrative Procedure Code).

Article 118 of the Electoral Code determines “The decision of a constituency electoral commission on rejecting or declaring as invalid the registration of a candidate for deputy may be appealed to the Administrative Court of the Republic of Armenia in the manner and within time frames prescribed by the Administrative Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia”. And according to Article 112 Part 1 “The decision of the Central Electoral Commission on rejecting or declaring as invalid the registration of an electoral list of a political party or a candidate included therein may be appealed against to the Administrative Court of the Republic of Armenia in the manner and within time limits prescribed by the Administrative Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia”.

According to Article 113 Part 2 of the RA Electoral Code “The registration of a candidate included in the electoral list of a political party shall be repealed, if an application on recusal has been filed, the provision of Article 18 Part 8 of this Code has been violated, based on the judgment of the court and the provisions of Article 26 of this Code have been violated, based on the judgment of the court”. And Article 18 Part 8 of the Code, particularly determines that “In the case of the violation of the established procedure for election campaigns which can have an essential impact on the results of the election, by candidates or political parties, the commission which has registered the candidate or the electoral list of a political party, the commission shall file a claim before a court for repealing the registration of the candidate or the electoral list of the political party”.

In its turn Article 46 of Code determines “The decisions, actions (inactions) (excluding the decisions on the results of the statewide elections) of the Central Electoral Commission can be appealed in the Administrative Court”. Meanwhile, according to the same article the applications for declaring the registration of a candidate or an electoral list of a political party or an individual candidate from that list invalid may be submitted till the ballot day.

It is obvious that not only the frames of the judicial authorities are clarified here, but it is also emphasized in what procedure and time limits those issues may be considered and resolved.

It follows from the abovementioned, that for the effective protection of the electoral right the following are required;

a) to know precisely the frames of jurisdiction of each judicial institution,

b) to take into account, that each institution is competent to perform only such acts for which it is authorized by Constitution or the laws;

c) to make necessary steps for the protection of the right at the court, having jurisdiction on that issue in the time limits and procedure prescribed by the law;

d) to take into account, that the RA Constitutional Court is not a superior court for the other courts, but it is implementing the specific authorities exclusively delegated to it by the Constitution.

The RA Constitutional Court is not authorized to take for the consideration all the issues, which firstly shall be taken into consideration and resolved by the RA Administrative Court, decisions of which, as it was stated above, are final and not subject to appeal.

It also important to take into account, that according to Article 74 Part 8 of the RA Electoral Code “On the fifth day after the voting day, the constituency electoral commission shall - based on the protocol on constituency voting results, court judgments, decisions made as a result of discussing motions received by the commission, and the adopted decision on the violations registered on the voting day in the record books of precinct electoral commissions summarize the election results and adopt a decision thereon”

In its turn Article 75 Part 6 of the Code determines, that “On the seventh day after the voting day, the Central Electoral Commission shall – based on the protocol on voting results, court judgments, decisions made as a result of discussing motions received by the commission, adopted decisions of constituency electoral commissions on the violations registered on the voting day in the record books of precinct electoral commissions, and the decisions on voting results –– summarize the election results and adopt a decision thereon.”

Taking into consideration these legislative provisions, as well as the requirements of Article 100, Point 3.1 of the RA Constitution, Article 74 of the RA Law on the Constitutional Court, the task of the Constitutional Court while dealing with the disputes regarding the decision of the Central Electoral Commission is to find out whether the following items have been taken into account with the necessary legal preciseness during the adoption of the respective decision.

a. The protocol on the results of the elections, which has been made by the procedure prescribed by the law;

b. the verdicts on the issues which are in the frames of competence of the Administrative Court;

c. the decisions made as a result of discussing motions received by the commission;

d. the decisions of constituency electoral commissions on the violations registered on the voting day in the record books of precinct electoral commissions;

e. the decisions made on the results of the voting.

In the cases of disputes concerning with the decision of the constituency electoral commission, the Constitutional Court shall find out whether the following items have been duly taken into account during the adoption of the respective decision.

a. the protocol on the results of the elections in the respective electoral constituency,

b. the judgments of the court,

c. the decisions made as a result of discussing motions received by the commission

d. the decisions of constituency electoral commissions on the violations registered on the voting day in the record books of precinct electoral commissions.

The examination and evaluation of these two groups of documents in terms of being drown up in compliance with the requirements of the law as well as being duly taken into consideration during the adoption of the final decision are the task of the Constitutional Court.

The task of the Constitutional Court is also to evaluate, taking into account all the abovementioned, how lawful is the decision adopted by a respective electoral commission regarding the results of elections.

The confidence towards the results of the elections is mostly connected with fact, how the electoral commissions implement the requirements of Articles 45-47 of the RA Electoral Code and how fundamental and objective are the decisions made as a result of discussing motions received by the commission, as well as the decisions adopted on the violations registered on the voting day in the record books of precinct electoral commissions.

The electoral commissions of all the levels shall pay a special attention to them, and the actions and inactions of the latter ones, as it was mentioned, may be appealed at the Administrative Court by the procedure and time limits defined by the law.

The procedure and peculiarities of the cases on the protection of the electoral right at the Administrative Court are clearly defined by Chapter 25, Articles 143-150 of the RA Administrative Procedure Code.

The peculiarities of the consideration and solution of the disputes over the decisions made on the basis of the results of the elections at the Constitutional Court are prescribed by Article 74 of the RA Law on the Constitutional Court.

It was emphasized during the meeting, that it is necessary for all participants of the electoral process to take into account the essential difference between the current procedure of the judicial protection of the electoral right and the procedure existed until the establishment of the administrative justice in the Republic of Armenia.

The ambassador expressed his gratitude for the detailed discussion and for the active cooperation between the bodies of the constitutional supervision of two states.

The RA CC Press Service

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February 15, 2012

IX WORKSHOP WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF THE GERMAN EXPERTS

On February 15th the IX workshop “The Issues of Deprivation of a Person’s Right to Property in the Context of Article 31 of the RA Constitution” was held at the RA Constitutional Court. The workshop was organized for the members and the staff of the RA Constitutional Court by “the Consultation for Legal and Judicial Reform in the South Caucasus” GIZ Project and the RA Constitutional Court.

Mr. Gagik Harutyunyan, the President of the RA Constitutional Court, Mr. Vardan Poghosyan, the Head of the Project in Armenia, and the key speaker of the workshop Mr. Otto Luchterhandt, Prof. of the University of Hamburg, made the welcoming speeches.

Mr. Harutyunyan stressed the importance of the workshop, the organization of which had already become a good tradition, as well as the participation of the key speaker Professor Otto Luchterhandt - well known expert among the constitutionalists. He also stated the expectations, that several important issues would get their solutions during the workshop.

The sessions of the workshop were chaired by Mr. G. Harutyunyan, the President of the RA CC, and by Mr. Otto Luchterhandt, the key speaker of the event.

The Professor’s presentation aroused great interest among the workshop participants. The active discussion and the question and answering stated the importance and modernity of the topic.

Mr. G. Harutyunyan, the President of the RA Constitutional Court, while summarizing the results of the workshop, thanked Mr. Otto Luchterhandt for accepting the invitation and for making interesting, useful presentation, and also thanked “the Consultation for Legal and Judicial Reform in the South Caucasus” GIZ Project, with which the cooperation of the RA CC within the frames of such initiatives is continuative.

CC RA Press service

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February 14, 2012

THE VISIT OF THE AMBASSADOR TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

On the 14th of February the President of the RA Constitutional Court Mr. G. Harutyunyan had meeting with the Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan Ambassador Andrey Sorokin.

Mr. Harutyunyan congratulated the guest on the assignment in the new office and expressed hope, that the effective cooperation between the RA Constitutional Court and the OSCE Office will be continuative.

During the meeting the discussion was conducted on the issues of the democratic developments, the upcoming parliamentary elections and the judicial protection of the rights of electors. The parties agreed to make joint seminar on the mentioned thematic.

The CC President wished the Ambassador success in the implementation of the OSCE projects in the Republic of Armenia.

The Ambassador expressed his thankfulness for the meeting and good wishes and stated that by his activities he would contribute to the further strengthening of the mutually achieved relationship.

CC RA Press service

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February 7, 2012

STUDENTS AT THE RA CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

On February 7th the President of the RA Constitutional Court Mr. G. Harutyunyan had a meeting with the group of the state university students from Georgia, Russia, Armenia and Artsakh, who are participating in the international winter school in Yerevan on “the Process and Main Problems of the Development of Judicial Power in Modern Period”.

Mr. Harutyunyan introduced to the students the problems of the constitutional justice and the peculiarities of the activities of certain constitutional courts.

During the meeting the discussion was conducted on the issues of necessity of deeper studies and reveal of modernity in the field of jurisprudence, strengthening legal thinking and legal culture.

CC RA Press service

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February 3, 2012

THE AMBASSADOR OF THE UNITED KINGDOM VISITS THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

On February 3rd the President of the RA Constitutional Court Mr. G. Harutyunyan had meeting with the newly appointed Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the Republic of Armenia Katherine Jane Leach.

Mr. Harutyunyan introduced to the Ambassador the activities and the international relations of the Constitutional Court, some cases taken for examination and some decisions made by the Court.

Ms. Leach with pleasure welcomed the fact, that henceforth the CC decisions would be published on the web page of the Constitutional Court in English as well.

Both parties welcomed the tight relationship which exists between the RA Constitutional Court and the Embassy of the United Kingdom and expressed the willingness to continue effective cooperation.

The discussion was mainly dedicated to the issues regarding to guaranteeing the supremacy of law, to the important role of the constitutional courts, to the cooperation with the European Court of Human Rights and also to some other issues of the mutual interest.

The CC President wished success to the Ambassador in her new office.

CC RA Press service

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