Thursday, July 9 2020 12:36

ArmInfo. The European Court of Human  Rights rejected the statement of three ex-judges of the  Constitutional Court and former head of the Constitutional Court  Hrayr Tovmasyan v. Armenia. This was announced on his page on the  social network Facebook by the deputy from the fraction "My Step"  Ruben Rubinyan.

He noted that the judges of the Constitutional Court demanded the  repeal of the amendments to the law "On the Constitutional Court",  which deprive them of their authority. The decision of the ECHR notes  that the court does not see the need to take such a measure as the  suspension of the law. The fact is that changes in the structure of  the Constitution do not entail such serious risks as irreversible  violation of human rights.  However, it should be noted that Hrayr  Tovmasyan and other judges can submit claims to the ECHR, and if the  need arises, the court will consider them in priority order. Note  that 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, have lost their posts.

Recall that on June 24, Armenian President Armen Sargsyan 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 Felix 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.