News
Show news feed

YEREVAN. – When considering the lawsuit, the Constitutional Court (CC) of Armenia studied fifty countries’ track-record on the funded pension system, when examining such matters in the CCs of those countries. 

CC President Gagik Harutyunyan stated the above-said at Friday’s Court session on the aforesaid lawsuit.

As per Harutyunyan, when studying the case, the CC also asked for and received 53 documents from the Central Bank of Armenia, which is the respondent in the case.

As reported earlier, the CC on Friday commenced the hearings on the lawsuit, pursuant to which several provisions in the controversial Law On Funded Pensions—in particular, its mandatory component—are contested.   

Opposition ARF Dashnaktsutyun MP Artsvik Minasyan, human rights activist Artak Zeynalyan, and attorney Meri Khachaturyan had filed the aforementioned lawsuit.

The new funded pension plan, which formally came into force in Armenia on January 1, 2014, is mandatory for those born in and after 1974 and voluntary for those born before 1974. In line with this plan, 5 to 10 percent of the monthly salaries in Armenia will be deducted and mandatorily be allocated to cumulative pension funds; the latter will be reimbursed as pensions once a person turns 63 years old. 

On January 24, however, the Constitutional Court decided to suspend the execution of some components in the Law on Funded Pensions pending the hearing on Friday. 

Notwithstanding this, some employers already are deducting the mandatory pension payment from the salaries of their employees.        

The law caused dissatisfaction among Armenia’s civil society, and therefore paved the way for the establishment of the “Dem Em [I am against]” civic initiative, which opposes the new pension law in Armenia. 

The four non-ruling-coalition parliamentary factions—i.e., the Armenian National Congress, Prosperous Armenia, ARF Dashnaktsutyun, and Heritage—likewise are against this new law, and they declare that its mandatory component is unconstitutional.

!
This text available in   Հայերեն and Русский
Print
Photos