Wednesday, July 8 2020 15:55

ArmInfo.  The decision of the  European Court of Human Rights regarding the appeal of Hrayr  Tovmasyan and others can be made within a week. The representative of  Armenia to the ECHR Yeghishe Kirakosyan said this in an interview  with the  RFE/RL's Armenian Service.

In addition of now former head of the Constitutional Court, Hrayr  Tovmasyan, judges of the Constitutional Court Hrant Nazaryan, Alvina  Gyulumyan and Feliks Tokhyan also applied to the ECHR. According to  Kirakosyan, the applicants ask the ECHR to apply provisional measures  in relation to the Republic of Armenia, on the basis of which the  court will be able to request the documents necessary for making a  decision. 

To recall, the applicants do not agree with the constitutional  amendments adopted earlier by the parliament and signed by the  President, according to which they, in fact, lost their posts.

According to the expert, the ECHR can reject the applicant's request  and don't decide on the issue at all, or make the decision at its own  discretion, since the court is not obliged to follow the applicant's  advanced requirements, but is based on  the information received from  all parties. In any case, the court can make its decision regarding  the consideration of the applicants 'application within the current  week. The Government of the Republic of Armenia, as noted, has  already sent its answers to the ECHR on Monday.  Kirakosyan also said  that the applicants demanded the suspension of constitutional  amendments. However, according to him, this may be beyond the powers  of the ECHR.

To recall, on June 24, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian signed a  package of bills, including those related to amendments to the law on  the Constitutional Court. The relevant amendments were approved by  the National Assembly at an extraordinary meeting on June 22.  According to the amendments, the powers of the judges of the  Constitutional Court Feliks Tokhyan, Hrant Nazarian and Alvina  Gyulumyan, who had been in office for more than 12 years, were  terminated. Already former head of the Constitutional Court Hrayr  Tovmasyan will continue to work as a judge.

The chairman and deputy chairman of the Constitutional Court will be  elected after the approval of the full composition of the  Constitutional Court (9 judges). At the same time, the current  composition of 6 judges is sufficient for the legality of the  convened meetings, that is, the continuity of the activities of the  Constitutional Court will not be violated. According to the law, in  the absence of the chairman and deputy chairman of the Constitutional  Court, the powers of the chairman are temporarily performed by the  oldest judge, that is, Ashot Khachatryan.