YEREVAN. – The board of the National Agenda party has welcomed the Venice Commission session report relating to Armenia’s judiciary, the vetting of judges, and the well-known statement by recently elected Constitutional Court judge Vahe Grigoryan.
“The Venice Commission also has touched upon these matters,” the party’s respective statement reads as follows, in particular. “After discussions with the representatives of Armenian authorities, it recorded, in its 119th session on June 21-22, that the Republic of Armenia parliament’s applauding of Vahe Grigoryan’s well-known allegations was disturbing, that the Constitutional Court [of Armenia] ‘judge’-‘member’ word game is not reasonable, and that the provision that envisages the future functioning of the sitting staff of the Constitutional Court is clear and unambiguous.
“In parallel, the Venice Commission and the Government of the Republic of Armenia have come to an agreement that a general vetting of sitting judges [of Armenia] is neither necessary nor useful, and, instead, a strengthening of the disciplinary norms and of the procedures for the judges’ asset declaration process shall be carried out within the framework of the current legislation.
“The board of the National Agenda party welcomes this report of the Venice Commission, and once again expresses hope that all agencies of the state authorities and the political forces of the Republic of Armenia will from now on strictly adhere to the Constitution and will not jeopardize the working legal order in the country.
“Also, we call on Armenia’s current political forces to cooperate to implement systemic judicial reforms in the country, and to achieve—with joint efforts—raising public trust towards judicial power [in Armenia].”
