ADOPTION OF CONSTITUTION IS ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS DEVELOPMENT

Azat Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
26 May 2006

Interview with NKR Attorney General Armen Zalinian, the head of the
Task Force on NKR Constitution. AA: “Mr. Zalinian, you have been
working on the NKR Constitution bill for over a year. In what stage
are you now?” Armen Zalinian: “Generally, the process of working out
and adopting a constitution defies hastiness. Every point requires a
thorough consideration, meaningful and tried approaches and tools. We
are guided by these principles, and considerable work has been done so
far. The concept of the NKR Constitution has been published, and
currently the constitutional committee is discussing the first two
chapters, namely the provisions on constitutional order and the basic
human and civil rights, freedoms and duties. It means that soon we are
going to have the main law of our country.” AA: “What are the basic
tenets of the NKR Constitution?” Armen Zalinian: “Those are reflected
in the concept. As a constitution of a sovereign, democratic, legal,
social state, in the NKR Constitution the right for self-determination
fulfilled by the people of Artsakh, promotion of democracy, rule of
law, human rights and freedoms, promotion of local governance,
establishment of a civil society will be set down. These are the main
components, upholding law and lawfulness between the society and the
state.

The key idea of the Constitution is the following scheme: rule of
right through the law.” AA: “In the long run, how will Nagorno
Karabakh benefit from the adoption of the Constitution? After all, the
country has existed without a constitution for 15 years.” Armen
Zalinian: “A country’s constitution is the determinant and the result
of a people’s historical evolution. A constitution imbibes the spirit
of a people, its legal thought and heritage, established in the course
of centuries, the system of values, which guide the aspirations of
these people. The fact that Karabakh lived without a constitution for
years on is ordinary from the standpoint that a newly established
country is unable to adopt a constitution in a short period of time.
It is necessary to have experience in state building and a choice of
guidelines. Besides, the people of NKR were forced into a war and
then had to overcome the hardships of this war in the legal, social
and economic, spiritual and cultural and, why not, home political
spheres. Over the past 15 years a tangible experience in state
building has been accumulated, which is a sufficient ground for having
our own constitution.” AA: “Is the NKR Constitution going to be a copy
of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenian in terms of contents
and form?” Armen Zalinian: “The NKR Constitution will be a
constitution of a sovereign, democratic, legal, social state with
semi-presidential governance. It will be consistent with the
tendencies and demands of development of constitutionalism in the
world. And the reality determined by the necessity of strengthening
our independent statehood will certainly be taken into consideration.

The necessary tools have been worked out. In this context, the
constitutional experience of the Republic of Armenia, the logic and
philosophy of the constitutional reform are very important. Several
provisions introduced in the renewed Constitution of Armenia will be
used in our Constitution. The constitutional experience of other
countries is also taken into consideration. In other words, we pick
up everything that is positive, everything that proved successful.”
AA: “What will be the procedure of adopting the Constitution?” Armen
Zalinian: “Naturally, a referendum. I believe that our people will
vote to the referendum on the Constitution, because the adoption of
the Constitution will be another important step towards the
establishment and strengthening of our republic.”

SVETLANA KHACHATRIAN.
26-05-2006