Lawyer: Decisions of Catholicos of All Armenians  not subject to  judicial review

ArmInfo. The decisions of the Catholicos of All Armenians are not subject to judicial review, as noted by lawyer Ara Zohrabyan  in his Facebook post.   According to him, information was circulated in the media that Bishop Gevorg Saroyan had filed an appeal challenging the actions of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II regarding his removal from the post of Primate of the Masyatsotn Diocese.

 "In this regard, we inform you that the Patriarch's activities  cannot be subject to judicial review. According to Article 61 of the  Statute of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, the Primate of the  Patriarchate is appointed by the Catholicos of All Armenians and  serves as his representative. If necessary, His Holiness the  Patriarch may recall the Primate of the Patriarchate from his post.

Referring to the provisions of Article 18 of the Constitution of the  Republic of Armenia, Article 2 of the Law "On Relations between the  Republic of Armenia and the Armenian Holy Apostolic Church," and  Article 17 of the Law "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious  Organizations," it is clear that the Republic of Armenia recognizes  the self-governance of the Armenian Holy Apostolic Church within its  hierarchy; the state cannot interfere in the activities and internal  affairs of the Church, which are in accordance with the law,"  Zohrabyan noted.

He emphasized that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has also  taken a stance on issues of church self-governance. According to him,  in one ECHR case, a Catholic priest had complained about the refusal  to renew his contract as a teacher of Catholic religion and ethics,  citing Article 8 of the Convention.  "The refusal to renew was based  on the bishop's temporary suspension. In this case, the ECHR ruled in  favor of the Church's autonomy and found no violation of the  Convention, including Article 6.

Similarly, the ECHR upheld the decision of the Hungarian courts,  which ruled that they lacked jurisdiction to hear the pastor's  complaint regarding his unlawful temporary suspension by the Church.  Since, under domestic law, a pastor cannot invoke any "right," if the  Court had found a violation of Article 6 of the Convention, it would  have created a new right, contrary to its own established case law.  Therefore, the Court declared the complaint invalid. In these  circumstances, the judge was obliged to dismiss the petition, as the  case did not fall within the jurisdiction of a civil court.  Otherwise, the Church's right to self- government would have been  violated," Zohrabyan concluded. 

Recall, in May, the Armenian Prime Minister launched a campaign  against the Armenian Apostolic Church, seeking to force the  resignation of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II. As part of  this campaign, all dissenters, both clergy and ordinary citizens, are  being detained on various serious charges.  Moreover, on the night of  January 5, the Armenian Prime Minister and 10 bishops of the Armenian  Apostolic Church, who had joined Pashinyan's anti-church campaign,  signed a framework document regarding the so-called renewal of the  Armenian Church.