Citizens Who Haven't Served in the Military Can No Longer Avoid Criminal Liability

The Military Prosecutor's Office of Armenia announces and warns that the legislative provision allowing citizens who have criminal charges against them for evasion of mandatory military service to avoid criminal liability by paying a certain amount to the state budget will no longer be in effect after December 31, 2019.

The law of the Republic of Armenia 'On Citizens Who Haven't Served in the Military in Violation of Established Procedure' applies to those individuals who, having evaded mandatory military service in violation of the law, have reached the age of 27 (or 35 for reserve officers) or who have acquired the grounds for exemption from mandatory military service or for obtaining a deferral for mandatory military service before reaching the age of 27 (or 35) and against whom criminal charges for evasion of mandatory military service have been initiated.

According to this law, a specific group of individuals who did not serve in the military in accordance with the established procedure were given the opportunity to avoid criminal liability and be registered for military service by paying a certain amount to the state budget.

The Armenian National Assembly regularly extended the validity of the law 'On Citizens Who Haven't Served in the Military in Violation of Established Procedure.' With the last legislative amendment adopted on March 6, 2019, the law applied to individuals who had reached the age of 27 (or 35 for reserve officers) before March 1, 2019, and its validity was set until December 31, 2019.

Considering that the validity of this law is set until December 31, 2019, and no new law has been adopted to extend it, this provision will no longer be in effect after the specified deadline, and citizens who have not served in violation of the established procedure will no longer be able to avoid criminal liability on that basis.