WAY TO JUST COURT FORMATION VIA INDEPENDENT JUSTICE COUNCIL

A1plus
| 13:08:38 | 07-05-2005 | Politics |

“In past the problems with the human rights were connected with the
imperfection of the juridical system, absence of independence and
proper guarantees”, Hrayr Tovmasyan, co-author of the constitutional
amendments draft presented by Democracy public organization says.

In his words the juridical system fixed in the acting Constitution
is fully dependent on the executive power and the President. “The
executive power has nothing to do with the formation of the juridical
corps while the Justice Council is called to secure the independence
of the juridical power. However in Armenia this notion is distorted as
the President is the Chairman of the Justice Council and his deputies
are the Prosecutor General and the Minister of Justice. Taking into
consideration the fact that the Justice Minister can bring a suit
against a judge any judge will become dependent perforce.

In Tovmasyan’s opinion in such a situation the Justice Council cannot
be independent. The constitutional draft presented by Democracy
leaves no place for the President, Justice Minister or the Prosecutor
General in the Justice Council. According to the draft, 2 judges of the
Council should be elected the general council via secret vote while
the National Assembly elects 2 legal experts and 2 lawyers. After
resigning their salary become equal to the salary of the chairman
of the Court of Cassations, enjoy immunity and are empowered to
solve issues connected with the juridical corps. “There is one more
important item. The judge has the right to appeal a decision against
him in the Constitutional Court”, Hrayr Tovmasyan added.

The Democracy draft calls for two specialized courts – the
Administrative and Economic. The latter has already been formed. “The
election dispute should be left to a chamber, which should be formed
under the Court of Cassations. The CC should deal with the disputes
emerging between the power branches, local self-government bodies
as well as individual claims. If a citizen considers that the suit
brought against him conflicts with the Constitution he should have
the right to appeal to the CC”, he resumed.

Victoria Abrahamyan