Employees aren’t obliged to pay for PCR tests because this was declared unconstitutional. This is what deputy of the opposition “Armenia” Faction of the National Assembly of Armenia Aram Vardevanyan told reporters, touching upon the decision of the Constitutional Court.

“The problem with the well-known order of the health minister was that all employees of Armenia were forced to get tested for the coronavirus at their expense when the social situation is so complicated. This was one of the cornerstones of our application, and I believe it is extremely important that the Court implemented constitutional justice,” Vardevanyan said, adding that even though the best solution is vaccination, it needs to be a person’s informed decision.

“An employer can no longer tell an employee to go and pay for a PCR test, and this is clearly stated in the concluding part of the decision. The decision of the Constitutional Court will be promulgated in full in three days, and we’ll touch upon it,” the MP stressed.

During today’s session, the Constitutional Court of Armenia decided that certain provisions stated in the order of the Minister of Health are unconstitutional. In particular, the Constitutional Court declared the word-combination ‘at his or her expense’ in the sentence ‘the PCR test shall be carried out by the employee at his or her expense’ as contradicting parts 1 and 2 of point 6 and Article 39 of the Constitution and invalid, taking into consideration the fact that prescribing the scope of employees with the duty to pay for a PCR test is beyond the scope of powers of the Minister of Health prescribed by law.

According to part 2 of Article 170 of the Constitution, this decision is final and shall enter into force from the moment of promulgation.

Opposition MPs had applied to the Constitutional Court to challenge the constitutionality of the health minister’s order on mandatory coronavirus vaccinations and testing.

According to the decision, employers need to require that their employees submit a certificate of vaccination against the coronavirus or show negative result of a PCR test twice a month and/or a statement of information from a doctor stating that the particular employee has contraindications for vaccination.

According to the deputies of the National Assembly who submitted an application to the Constitutional Court, the order mandates all employees to either get tested for COVID-19 at their own expense or get vaccinated. The deputies stated that this has to be each person’s informed, not imposed decision.

According to Article 68 of the Constitutional Law on the Constitutional Court, the body having adopted the mentioned law (National Assembly of Armenia) and the body having adopted the mentioned order (Minister of Health of Armenia) are involved in the proceedings as respondents under this case.