ENVIABLE UNITY

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The experts of the Venice Commission have issued about 60 remarks on the constitutional amendments proposed by the coalition. However they were satisfied with the principal clauses regarding the Constitutional Court. Al the three drafts provide for extension of the rights and authorities of the CC as well as the circle of people to appeal to it. After the adoption of the amendments a second law «On the Constitutional Court» is to be adopted», chairman of the permanent commission on state and legal issues Rafik Petrosyan, who is representing the draft of amendments submitted by the coalition, says.

According to the acting Constitution, the CC has no time restrictions on examining a case; the coalition draft suggests a 10-day term. Moreover, it says that «a CC member has no right to occupy state posts, be a member of a self-government body or be engaged in business».

As for the individuals, who should possess the right of appealing to the CC, in Petrosyan's opinion the any citizen should have such a right but only in case if he received the resolution of the last degree of jurisdiction – the Court of Cassations. “Armenia is the only state where a citizen cannot appeal to the CC”, Petrosyan says.

If the signatures of 1/3 of the total number of deputies was needed for appealing to the CC, now the coalition proposes to lower the figure up to 1/5 and the ULP up to 1/10.

The draft proposed by Arshak Sadoyan differs a bit. According to it, the CC has the right to examine some issues on its own initiative. The clause, in his opinion, should be regulated by the law “On the Constitutional Court”. He also states as essential the creation of mechanisms to make the decision of the CC obligatory for execution. To date, for example, if the CC decides to abolish a monopoly, the decision does not come into force; if it decides to hold a referendum – nothing of the kind happens.

The coalition’s draft contains one more item. During the hearing of some cases the presence of all the 9 judges will not be necessary. For some cases, for example the presence of 3 judges will be enough. If the votes of the 3 judges split, the decision is taken by the majority of the CC members. Rafik Petrosyan refutes a possibility that the 3 judges can come to a «felonious agreement». “They are serious people, who experienced the difficulties of life. If we have formed such a body we should trust it”, he said. He also added that if we do not trust the ordinary judges, who unanimously sentence an accused to 15 years of imprisonment, do not trust the Prime Minister or the President, we will not be able to establish normal system of public administration.

Lena Badeyan