ArmInfo.The rights of the president in making decisions on petitions for pardon will be curtailed. This is proved by the new draft law "On Pardon", adopted at the meeting of the Armenian Parliament on February 9 in the first reading.
According to Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Suren Krmoyan, the document submitted by the government is a demand of the updated Constitution of the country. It regulates the procedure for pardoning convicts, filing and discussing petitions, as well as the relations connected with exercising control over the execution of pardons. According to the bill, a petition for pardon can be submitted only by a convicted person, his lawyer or relatives. In connection with the constitutional changes and amendments to the bill "On pardon", it is stipulated that a widely represented commission should be formed, the order of formation and functioning of which will be determined by the prime minister. The President can return clemency proposals with his objections, but if they are not accepted, within three days he must publish the decree or appeal to the Constitutional Court. The Ministry of Justice of Armenia in order to discuss the petition for pardon within a month from the moment of receipt of the petition makes a personal file of the person who submitted the petition and presents it to the Prime Minister on the basis of data provided by the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice, the probation service or the Ministry of Defense.
After receiving the personal file, the president sends the documents to the Clemency Commission within five days for the provision of the conclusion. According to the draft law, given the nature and importance of the petition for pardon, in exceptional cases the prime minister may submit a proposal for refusing pardon without being submitted to the Clemency Commission for consideration. Thus, the Prime Minister will have the right to grant pardon even if the President does not agree with his decision. The procedure for the formation and functioning of the Commission on pardons is determined by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, whereas earlier this commission acted under the President of the Republic of Armenia.