As in the past, the government continues to consider the judge candidate of the Constitutional Court and will provide information as soon as it makes a decision. This is what Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan said during a “Facebook press conference” broadcast by RFE/RL.

Facebook users had asked Rustam Badasyan who had nominated Vahram Avetisyan to the position of judge of the Constitutional Court, and in response, the minister said the government nominates candidates.

“It’s clear that all nominations are considered in wide format and all decisions are made collectively. I presented Vahram Avetisyan as a candidate for judge of the Constitutional Court for consideration. The government made its decision after implementing the procedure for consideration,” the justice minister explained.

Asked if the reason for Vahram Avetisyan’s decision to refuse to participate in the election for judge of the Constitutional Court was the fact that the deputies of the My Step faction of the National Assembly suspected his impartiality, Badasyan said he believed there were other reasons and added that every deputy expressed his or her opinion based on different standards.

A few days after his meeting with deputies of the My Step faction of the National Assembly, Vahram Avetisyan declared that he doesn’t want to be a judge candidate of the Constitutional Court since it became clear that the approaches and notions of some deputies regarding the role of the Constitutional Court, the state of being apolitical and independent as a judge of the Constitutional Court weren’t in line with his approaches and, in some cases, unacceptable.