The Fate of Hrayr Tovmasyan Remains Unclear: What is Happening Inside the Constitutional Court

According to the newspaper "Zhoghovurd", from October 10-12, four legal experts from the ruling team traveled to Italy to participate in the 120th plenary session of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe.

As per the information obtained by "Zhoghovurd", Justice Minister Rustam Batasyan attended the Venice discussions alongside his deputy Kristine Grigoryan, Armenia’s representative to the European Court of Human Rights, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, and the head of the NA Legal Affairs Committee, Vladimir Vardanian.

During the commission meeting, two issues related to Armenia were discussed: first, the approval of the judicial reforms package, and second, Minister Rustam Batasyan's request to the commission regarding the constitutionality of the Istanbul Convention.

According to sources from "Zhoghovurd", the officials traveled to Venice with the agenda of negotiating a solution in favor of the government regarding the impasse created around the ratification of the Istanbul Convention by the Constitutional Court. This means that the Venice Commission is set to approve the removal of Hrayr Tovmasyan in the context of the judicial reforms package, conditional on the ratification of the Istanbul Convention in Armenia.

Moreover, the newspaper has also received exclusive information about what is currently happening within the walls of the Supreme Court. Will the National Assembly’s request regarding the termination of the powers of the President of the Constitutional Court be accepted?

According to our sources, the Constitutional Court members are not inclined to accept and process this request, noting that what the National Assembly has sent cannot be subject to examination, as there are certain procedural violations. Additionally, our sources indicate that some judges of the Constitutional Court believe that the document sent by the National Assembly has been sent to the Supreme Court in violation of regulations.

For more details, refer to today’s issue of the newspaper.