YEREVAN. – When discussing the issue of whether or not to apply to the Constitutional Court (CC) on the issue of the draft constitutional amendments, a selection must be made between two values. On the one hand, there is a direct and obvious situation of a conflict of direct and obvious interests. On the other hand, there is an interest in administering justice. Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan stated this Monday at the special sitting of the National Assembly of Armenia where the bill on the constitutional amendments is being discussed.

"Here we must take into account that the Constitutional Court has the tool of preliminary oversight in terms of amendments to the Constitution, which [the tool] was not limited at all until the latest legislative amendments initiated by the [majority] My Step faction [in parliament]; that is, it was not clear from what point of view the Constitutional Court should assess the contradiction between the constitutional amendments and the Constitution.

The opinion of the Venice Commission on the institution of oversight, in general, is not an accepted tool in the expanse of the Council of Europe, the initial constitutional oversight was again one of the innovations of the constitutional amendments in 2015. I believe we are dealing with a direct situation of conflict of interests, and we must try to resolve this contradiction," the minister stressed.