Armenian authorities' systemic changes 'aim to usurp powers of Constitutional Court' - lawyer

The Armenian authorities' agenda of constitutional reforms reminds of a whimsical child's behavior, with the governing political force acting in breach of "all the written and unwritten principles" to usurp the powers of the Constitutional Court, Gohar Meloyan, an exprt in constitutional law, said on Sunday.

In an interview with Tert.am, the lawyer voiced her concern over the proposed reform to unite the Constitutional and Cassation Courts into a single body exercising the functions of a supreme court.

"They are attempting to obtain a united model of a supreme court, which is specific to the Anglo-Saxon countries, whereas our legal system [that of civil civil law] is modeled after the Roman law and the Germanic legal tradition. "The sharp transition to the Anglo-Saxon system - a special supreme judicial body - is theoretically problematic a little bit.

"If we take the Council of Europe member states, very few of them belong to the Romano-Germanic legal system having a united supreme court," she said, describing the authorities' justifications as "highly populist" and "lacking any substantial discourse".

"I think even those populist justifications are imperfect, as a question arises whether the distrust was directed to the Constitutional or the Supreme Court . What regulations are envisaged then for court of a lower instance ?

"Various surveys and practical analyses reveal that citizens' increasing complaints stem largely from from interrelations with lower instance courts," Meloya said.

In her words, the process marks the start of a new series of abuses "shaking the foundations of a rule of law state" and failing to inspire any confidence amid the authorities' attempt to "second the entire system to personal objectives."

"This will give rise to a situation in which the legal community will voice concern over 'half-solutions', with the governing [political] force defiantly doing what they themselves consider appropriate. We are eye-witnessing a real permissiveness in the country - aiming to serve the purely personal ambitions and the interests of the governing force," she added.

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