YEREVAN. – A series of public consultations on a draft concept paper on constitutional reform in Armenia got underway Tuesday in capital city Yerevan, and they will continue on Wednesday and May 29.

The consultations are organized by the Specialized Commission on Constitutional Reforms under the President of Armenia, in cooperation with the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the USAID’s Support to National Assembly Programme.

The debate aims to raise public awareness and participation in the constitutional reform process.

At the beginning of Monday’s consultations, Constitutional Court (CC) President Gagik Harutyunyan introduced the draft concept paper on constitutional reform, and he explained why this reform is necessary for Armenia.

Harutyunyan reflected on the present-day situation in Armenia with respect to the exercising of rights, and the need to create institutions for public accounting and the settlement of legal disputes in the country.

“Political matters need to be resolved in the legal domain, and not the legal ones in the political,” the CC head stressed.
He added that the justice system needs to be independent and impartial.

It was also noted that the institution of petitions must be introduced in Armenia.

Gagik Harutyunyan also brought examples when the CC rulings and the country’s law conflict with one another. As a result, as per the CC president, there may be an arbitrary interpretation of laws.

“If the issues are not solved now, the negative trends will become recurrent,” he stressed.

Gagik Harutyunyan added that the matter refers to the creation of a democratic state.