Armenian Government, as a collegial body, should have clarified decision behind naming new candidates for high court - lawyer

The Armenian Government, which is a collegial body, should have given its clarifications behind the move to name a new candidate for a judge of the Constitutional Court, Siranush Sahakyan, a co-founder of the Legal Path NGO, said today, commenting on the decision to nominate Vahram Avetisyan's candidacy.

Speaking to Tert.am, the lawyer noted that the problem was actual back in 2018, when several NGOs issued an appeal to the president, expressing concern over a failure to hold a contest and urging the National Assembly to vote against the candidate nominated "in violation of international standards".

"At the time, they made reference to the process of nominating candidates for ECHR judges and demanded that contest procedures be in place as a sign of fair and transparent processes. [Former Minister of Justice] Artak Zeynalyan raised the issue at the National Assembly, recalling 25 NGOs, including outstanding ones which now have members serving the Government.

"And the President of the Republic introduced the contest procedure, fixing the process of sorting candidates for key independent positions based on transparent contests. We see, however, that none of the standards they had made a reference to was actually respected, and no explanation was given behind the principles of sorting and nominating a candidate. There is no explanation - no justification at all - behind the selection of that very candidate from among so many specialists, including those of constitutional law. "

Sahakyan said she thinks that the procedure was omitted intentionally as it would have helped reveal individuals with valuable professional competences, including independent specialists not serving the current government. 

"Given that the Government is not willing to see independent individuals gifted with high professional and high human and moral values [in the Constitutional Court], that contest procedure would have simply frustrated their political plans and fallen short, in any way, to serve their interests," she added.