I Hope No Judge Shakes a Departed Hand and Harms Any Citizen: Simonian

The MP from the 'Enlightened Armenia' faction, Taron Simonian, believes that the role of the president of the Constitutional Court has been unnecessarily exaggerated, and the draft law aimed at prematurely retiring the judges of the Constitutional Court, presented solely to resolve the issue of Hrayr Tovmasyan, is not logically connected to the objectives set by the authorities.

“The Constitutional Court is a collegial body. The President of the Constitutional Court, Hrayr Tovmasyan, is just one judge and does not have the right to impose his will on other judges of the Constitutional Court. I am confident that the other judges do not feel constrained by his will in any way. If the issue is about the will of one judge, then let’s understand how important it is to allocate so much time to that person,” Simonian noted during parliamentary briefings.

According to Taron Simonian, if the authorities wish to implement reforms in the judicial system, resolving this issue alone will not make the judicial system operate more efficiently.

“If we have money that can be used to reform and develop this system, then our own proposal has been repeatedly voiced, which is to increase the number of judges, but it has been repeatedly rejected on the grounds that there is no money in the budget to increase the number of judges. We are waiting for some benefactors to donate money for the judges to increase. Meanwhile, we are lavishly distributing our available funds; why is it that if one judge retires, we have issues?” emphasized Taron Simonian.

The MP from 'Enlightened Armenia' does not share the opinion that the authorities are extending a hand to the Constitutional Court judges for a dignified exit. Taron Simonian remarked that if hands are extended, then let it be at their own expense, not at the expense of taxpayers.

“Morally, I see a problem here because judges are highly professional individuals. When such an offer is made to them, in effect, judges are selling their professional morality for money. In my opinion, this is problematic, and I hope no judge shakes a departed hand and harms any citizen of the Republic of Armenia,” he added.