ArmInfo.A referendum may be held only with the consent of the Constitutional Court, otherwise problems with lawfulness arise. A member of the Constitutional Court of Armenia Felix Tokhyan stated this in an interview with reporters. The judge noted that when parliament passed the law that judges of the Constitutional Court can retire ahead of schedule, the Venice Commission stated that judges can only retire on a voluntary basis.
<Our leadership agreed with this position, and government officials have repeatedly noted that we can retire on very good conditions. However, when we did not take advantage of this proposal, the parliament decided to hold a referendum on constitutional amendments. In fact, this decision was correct, as the citizens of Armenia should take part in the amendments to the Constitution. Due to the spread of coronavirus infection, the referendum did not take place, however, elections were held in Artsakh, moreover in two rounds. And now, the situation in Artsakh is much more stable than in Armenia >, said Tokhyan. The judge also emphasized that one should carefully study the opinion of the Venice Commission, and not superficially look at the comments. According to him, the opinion of the Venice Commission and the authorities diverge. "It's not normal to change the Constitution in one day," Tokhyan concluded.
It should be noted that on June 22, the Armenian parliament in the second and final reading adopted the draft amendments to the Armenian Constitution. According to the proposed amendments, the powers of judges of the Constitutional Court, who have been in office for more than 12 years, must be terminated. After the vacant posts of judges are taken, the election of a new head of the Constitutional Court will take place.