Friday, February 9 2018 11:46

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.