Judicial System Independence at Risk: Advocacy Chamber of Armenia

The Council of the Advocates Chamber of the Republic of Armenia (hereinafter referred to as the Chamber), in its entirety and with the participation of the Chairman Ara Zograbyan and Council members Karapet Aghajanian, Hrant Ananyan, Melanya Arustamyan, Sedrak Asatryan, Simon Babayan, Tigran Khurshudyan, Harutyun Harutyunyan, Nelli Harutyunyan, Arayik Ghazaryan, Karen Mejlumyan, Karen Sardarayan, and Gayane Demirchyan,

held an urgent meeting on May 19, 2019, and unanimously decided to appeal to the authorities of the Republic of Armenia to refrain from actions that could threaten the independence of the judicial authority or be seen as interference in the realization of justice.

The text of the Chamber's statement noted:

“On May 19, 2019, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called on members of society via his Facebook page to blockade all entrances and exits of the country’s courts. This call has been widely circulated through electronic mass media.

The Advocates Chamber of the Republic of Armenia expresses its concern regarding this matter, considering that implementing the call would violate the requirements of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, international treaties, and laws.

In particular, in accordance with Article 4 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, state power is exercised in accordance with the Constitution and laws based on the separation and balance of legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

Article 162 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia stipulates that justice is administered only by courts, and any interference in the administration of justice is prohibited.

According to points 1 and 7 of the UN’s Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, adopted on September 6, 1985:

• The independence of the judiciary is guaranteed by the State and established in the Constitution or laws of the country. All public and other institutions are obliged to respect and maintain the independence of the judiciary.
• Each member state is obliged to create the necessary conditions to enable the judiciary to perform its duties properly.

According to Part 3 of Article 7 of the RA Judicial Code, state and local self-government bodies and officials must refrain from any actions that could jeopardize or harm the independence of the court or the judge.

The mechanism of a modern legal state (which Armenia is) operates based on the principles of the separation and balance of the three independent branches of state power: executive, legislative, and judicial. The structural separation of powers demands that the legislature and executive have no right to intervene or encroach upon the realm of justice.

The Prime Minister represents one of the arms of state power — the executive authority. Therefore, obstructing the activities of the courts or imposing actual restrictions on the functioning of the judicial authority based on the Prime Minister's call jeopardizes the independence of the judiciary.

This approach concerns the Advocates Chamber of the Republic of Armenia also from the standpoint that blocking the entrances and exits of the courts and similar actions could have a generally constraining effect on the independence of the judicial system. As a consequence, judges may be inclined to refrain from making lawful judicial acts undesirable to the executive authority due to the anticipated risk of transitional justice or similar actions, which would directly undermine the legal security of the state.

The Advocates Chamber of the Republic of Armenia is ready to support any initiative from the Prime Minister or other competent officials aimed at eradicating corruption from the judicial system, eliminating the illegal influence of new or former officials, enriching the system with quality personnel, and any other actions aimed at enhancing the quality of justice.”