Armenia’s newly appointed Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan doesn’t see any ground to subject Armen Danielyan, the judge who examined the appeals under the case of second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan and other ex-officials, to disciplinary liability. This is what the minister declared during a briefing following the government session, touching upon the fact that Danielyan rendered a judicial act without listening to the objection of the defendant’s attorneys.

“There needs to be an occasion prescribed by the Judicial Code in order to subject a judge to disciplinary liability. I don’t see any ground to initiate disciplinary proceedings,” he said, noting that it wouldn’t be right for him to view a judge’s line of conduct as right or wrong.

On June 20, Judge Armen Danielyan of the Criminal Court of Appeal decided to leave for the consultation room to render decisions on appeals without listening to the objections of Robert Kocharyan’s attorneys. Five days later, Danielyan rendered a decision to remand Robert Kocharyan, who was released with a personal pledge from the former and incumbent presidents of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic), and overturn the decision of Judge Davit Grigoryan of the first instance court on suspending the proceedings of the case of Kocharyan and other ex-officials and forward the case for new examination.