ArmInfo. The institution of judicial withdrawal of judges is regulated by law and there are a number of requirements in which case a withdrawal is necessary. On May 6, in an interview with journalists, the rector of the Academy of Justice, Sergey Arakelyan, commented on the fact that a number of judges, leading sensational cases against major former officials of Armenia, took the challenge.
Arakelyan noted that if there are such grounds, and the judges made such a decision, it means that they had grounds for that. You should not look for hidden subtext in these situations. "Perhaps in society there is a point of view that judges are trying to avoid this or that case. But, knowing many judges, I can say with confidence that they are not afraid of work and difficult cases," the rector emphasized. Arakelyan also expressed confidence that such a decision of the judges was dictated solely by legal necessity.
It should be noted that three judges of the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan - David Grigoryan, Nelli Baghdasaryan and Harutyun Manukyan presented their rejection, and for various reasons refused to conduct the proceedings on the case of the second President of Armenia Robert Kocharian. The Ethics Commission examined this issue and initiated proceedings against the judges, referring the case to the Supreme Judicial Council for a decision on whether to bring them to disciplinary responsibility. Recall that Judge Vardan Grigoryan also took charge of the disqualification, who was entrusted with the consideration of the case of the second President of Armenia Robert Kocharian, former Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorkian, former CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov, and also ex-Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan. To note, the second president of Armenia is accused of overthrowing the constitutional order. Kocharyan himself does not recognize the charges and considers this case fabricated.