YEREVAN. – I definitely share the concern of the PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia that there is a great tension between the staff of the two institutions - the Constitutional Court and the Prime Minister's staff - in Armenia. Ruben Rubinyan, head of the Armenian delegation to PACE and member of the majority My Step faction, said this at today's meeting with reporters in the National Assembly.

"I think this is not normal," he added. “I also think that this is a result of the fact that the Constitutional Court President has made numerous political statements that are of an opposition nature. That is, the Constitutional Court President, who should not be involved in politics, actually makes political statements. I also find it important that the co-rapporteurs note that trust in the judiciary in Armenia is very low. They note that to date the National Assembly and the government have tried to resolve the situation by adhering to legal procedures. The co-rapporteurs also noted that the mechanism for voluntary early retirement of judges has received a positive conclusion from the Venice Commission, and that they will follow the process of its implementation, which is very important. They point out that the purpose of introducing a voluntary early retirement mechanism, namely to maintain the spirit of the Constitution adopted in 2015, is justified. That is to say, in my interpretation, the spirit of the Constitution is in fact violated.

In addition, the co-rapporteurs noted that this tension should not disrupt the already ongoing or planned reforms, which is also important." Rubinyan added that this issue will be resolved as soon as possible.

As for the statement of President Gianni Buquicchio of the Venice Commission, Rubinyan said: “He also expresses concern about this tension. Mr. Buquicchio also reminds the Venice Commission's opinion that the early retirement mechanism should be truly voluntary and that judges should be free from any type of political or personal pressure. I consider this important because, prior to this announcement, Justice Minister Rustam Badasyan had stated that various circles are applying various pressures in order to hold back the judges who can benefit from early retirement from that idea. In fact, a few days after that, there is a statement by the Venice Commission president that this is wrong, there should be no pressure on the judges. I also share Mr. Badasyan's concern."

And to the question whether there is no pressure on the serving Constitutional Court judges, he responded: “I do not know any case of pressure from the authorities. If you know, say it."