An Armenian court has annulled the very first decision adopted by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption of Armenia and has obliged to examine the application of the Civil Consciousness NGO regarding the violation of the rules of conduct by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

On November 29, 2019, Civil Consciousness NGO submitted an application to the Commission regarding violation by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of the rules of conduct.

The organization reported that the violation concerned the statement that Prime Minister made in his response to a question regarding the judiciary in his interview with the editor-in-chief of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on July 17, 2019. Pashinyan had stated the following: “This judiciary is incompatible with new Armenia. This is a ‘slave-owner’ judiciary. Instead of self-cleansing and stating that they are free and have the opportunity to be dignified judges and citizens over the past year, the system and judges are seeking the old owners and whining near doors, asking the old owners to take care of them.”

With its decision dated December 5, 2019, the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption left the application unexamined and reasoned that the NGO had applied later than the one-month time limite prescribed by law. This was the first decision of the Commission.

On January 10, 2020, Civil Consciousness NGO submitted a statement of claim to the Administrative Court against the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, and on August 24, the Administrative Court rendered a verdict upholding the organization’s lawsuit against the Commission.