ECHR records bias by RA Supreme Judicial Council - RA Association of  Judges

ArmInfo. The European Court of Human Rights has published a ruling on the case of Judge Suren  Antonyan, whose powers in the Civil Chamber of the Cassation Court were terminated, recognizing that in this case there was a violation of the right to a fair trial.

As reported by the press service of the RA Association of Judges, the  ECHR concluded that the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) failed to  dispel the reasonable doubts of the applicant Suren Antonyan  regarding the impartiality of the Chairman of the SJC Karen  Andreasyan. At the same time, the applicant was not provided with  sufficient procedural guarantees.

In this regard, the RA Association of Judges recalled that on January  26, 2023, the Supreme Judicial Council, chaired by Karen Andreasyan,  granted the petition of former Justice Minister Grigor Minasyan to  impose disciplinary liability and terminated the powers of Judge  Suren Antonyan on the basis of a significant disciplinary sanction.

"During the consideration of the case in the Supreme Judicial  Council, Suren Antonyan submitted a motion to Karen Andreasyan to  challenge him, believing that the disciplinary proceedings could not  be considered impartially, since the chairman was in economic and  financial ties with Grigor Minasyan. However, this motion was  denied," the Association states.

Earlier, lawyer Raffi Aslanyan, commenting on the statement of the  European Court on the resumption of the case against Judge Suren  Antonyan, said that the actions of the former chairman of the Supreme  Judicial Council Karen Andreasyan contain signs of a clear crime,  which must receive a proper criminal- legal assessment.

In November, the chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council of Armenia  Karen Andreasyan resigned. At the same time, he did not reveal the  underlying reasons for his move, only noting that he decided to act  proactively against the backdrop of a parade of resignations in the  team of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and is leaving both  the post of head of the Air Force and ceasing to be a member of the  Air Force.

It is noteworthy that Pashinyan later admitted that he "in a friendly  manner" asked Andreasyan to leave his post, thus demonstrating  obvious interference in the activities of one of the three  independent branches of government - the judiciary.