YEREVAN. – Hraparak daily of Armenia writes: “The Constitutional Court [(CC)] is conducting its work in a normal way, paying no attention to what is happening around it. Today we have invited the Minister of Justice to the CC, we are going to discuss an international treaty; he is the rapporteur,” our CC source said yesterday.

But what about the [forthcoming constitutional] referendum? "I think the proud citizen of Armenia will not go on the unlawful road." And is there a [CC] judge that can retire early? Feliks Tokhyan's name is mentioned. “At the moment, no; everybody is actively working, except for one.

It is a fact that whatever step the authorities have taken they have come out wrong; this one is no exception. They may seem to be successful in the short run, but they cannot succeed in the long run for 3 reasons: They are dishonest in their goals, they do not do all this with the honest urge to reform the justice system.

The actions [of their] are illegal; they choose from the laws especially what cannot be done, and each passing day makes them more vulnerable. Look, the Justice Ministry issued a statement that the Minister had spoken to [President Gianni] Buquicchio [of the Venice Commission], and not a word whatsoever as to what [they spoke about]. The law on referendum is the first precedent not sent to Venice. It is not ruled out that Buquicchio will write a conclusion, submit it to the Council of Europe [(CoE)]; in other words, we are unnecessarily weakening the country."