One Cannot Not Work and Still Receive a Salary: Const. Court Judge Alvina Gyulumyan on Vahe Grigoryan

In response to questions from “Factinfo” regarding the developments surrounding the Constitutional Court, Judge Alvina Gyulumyan of the RA Constitutional Court shares her insights.

- Madam Gyulumyan, the government has approved and deemed urgent a well-known package of projects that creates the opportunity for current judges of the Constitutional Court to retire early in exchange for appropriate social guarantees. What is your opinion on this idea?

- I have had many occasions to say that this idea is unacceptable to me because I believe that one cannot not work and still receive a salary. This is a fundamental issue for me.

- In fact, we have a case of a judge in the Constitutional Court who does not actually work but continues to receive a salary.

- You know, everyone is responsible for their behavior. At least, I believe that one cannot not work and receive a salary. I prefer not to assess my colleagues; I find it inappropriate.

- Madam Gyulumyan, although it is mentioned that the judges of the CC should utilize this mechanism solely on the principle of voluntariness, the legal community has already expressed concerns, particularly regarding the guarantees of voluntariness, considering the situation surrounding the CC. Do you have any concerns?

- I will not make assumptions, of course, but if there is pressure on someone, he or she may be compelled to accept it. However, I will avoid speculating. I will not make any assumptions about whether this may be under pressure or not. Ultimately, you should know one thing: when a person agrees to take a step under pressure, he or she finds it difficult to admit that they have been pressured. We will not all know about this, except for the specific individual who will go through it, but it is possible that for someone, it may be desirable to retire early like this. That is a completely different issue. I consider it an ungrateful task to completely exclude pressures or to say that there will definitely be pressures because that is in the realm of speculation.

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