BILL ON AMENDMENTS TO ARTICLES 225 AND 300 OF CRIMINAL CODE LIKELY TO BE DISCUSSED AT NEXT FOUR-DAY SESSIONS OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Noyan Tapan

Feb 5, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The working group, which was set up
to develop a bill on making amendments and additions to Articles 225
(Mass Disorder) and 300 (Usurpation of State Power) of the RA Criminal
Code, held its first sitting on February 5. According to the group’s
head, chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on State
and Legal Issues, head of the Armenian delegation in the PACE David
Harutyunian, the envisaged amendments to the indicated articles of
the Criminal Code pursue two goals: to reflect the principle of legal
certainty in these articles and to bring them into line with European
standards. Commenting on these two articles, he said that their legal
wording is not good: in particular Article 300 contains the phrase
"actions aimed at overthrowing the constitutional order of the Republic
of Armenia by violence". In the opinion of D. Harutyunian, first of
all, it is necessary to define what the "constitutional order" is,
as the wording of the article gives cause for extensive comments. As
regards Article 225 about mass disorder, he mentioned that the article
does not say what can be considered as mass disorder.

Following the sitting, D. Harutyunian told reporters that the group
had planned its future work. Besides, the group members presented
their analyses on the two articles.

D. Harutyunian expressed a hope that the group will have some written
material for discission at the sitting to be held next week. He did not
rule out that in case of necessity the group will invite local experts,
as well as European ones – in the period between the adoption in first
reading and the second reading. In his opinion, if the work proceeds
as planned, in all likelihood, during the four-day sessions of the
NA to start on February 23, the bill on amendments and additions to
two articles of the Criminal Code will be presented for discussion
in first reading.