Video: The 2015 Constitutional Amendments Can Be Called a Disgrace, Says Badassyan

The commission established for constitutional amendments will address the general judicial system. This was stated by Justice Minister Rustam Badassyan during a press conference on January 21.

"If the crisis is not resolved constitutionally, then how else can it be resolved? A general direction has been set that we will address the general judicial system, but how we will do that, I don't think it's appropriate to share my vision when the commission has not yet been formed," he noted.

In response to the question about the proposal from MP Hovik Aghazaryan from the 'My Step' faction to replace the Constitutional Court and the Court of Cassation with a Supreme Court, Badassyan stated that this is initially not acceptable.

When asked which article of the Constitution should be amended to increase public confidence in the Constitutional Court, the minister replied, "Overall, trust in the judicial authority must be increased by defining a model of what kind of Constitutional or Court of Cassation we envision, and how the transition from the old model to the new model should occur."

Journalists inquired whether we can say that since they were unable to resolve the crisis with pre-retirement arrangements, they are now trying to address it with constitutional amendments and to get rid of Hrayr Tovmasyan. The minister responded: "One has nothing to do with the other; there is still a deadline for pre-retirement arrangements. We will wait and see if pre-retirement arrangements will work. This was a quick step to partially overcome the crisis."

When asked whether the issue of breaking free from a super-premier system is being addressed through constitutional amendments, he said: "We will look into it and define what a super-premier system means because different political figures have expressed various opinions about it. Let the expert segment of the commission express its opinion; let us hear their views."

Badassyan stated that they have initiated changes that will require a referendum. In response to claims that the Constitution cannot be changed after five years, the minister expressed the opinion that the amendments made in 2015 were a disgrace: "The last amendment to the Constitution can be called a disgrace in the history of Armenia, regarding what purposes this amendment was carried out. This amendment matured as a result of public demand and extensive public discussion. We do not intend to initiate constitutional changes merely for situational solutions. If only confidence in the judicial system can be raised, then only for that reason is a constitutional amendment necessary."

He noted that there is no intention to transition to a semi-presidential system.

When asked whether the question of parliamentary stable majority would be discussed, the minister responded: "This is a question that will be discussed; we will consider all positive and negative potential effects and will come to conclusions in the context of discussions with all parliamentary and extra-parliamentary forces."

He mentioned that they have calculated the timelines and plan to have a draft of the constitutional amendments ready by the end of the year, which will be put to a referendum.

Badassyan informed that they intend to submit the draft for international review by the Venice Commission.

Watch the video on NEWS.am.