Co-Rapporteurs of PACE Amend Previous Statement

The Co-Rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) have made amendments to their earlier published statement regarding Armenia. According to reports citing the official Twitter account of PACE, co-rapporteurs Andrey Shirtsel and Kimmo Kiljunen, following the events that took place in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on February 6, stated: “We were informed that the so-called ‘package’ of changes has been removed from the parliamentary agenda. However, we encourage the Armenian authorities to appeal to the Venice Commission for an opinion on the constitutional amendments.”

In a previous statement issued by the co-rapporteurs, it was noted: “Among other things, this will change the procedure for amending the Constitution itself. In addition, a constitutional change has been proposed that aims to terminate the terms of several members of the current Constitutional Court. These two issues are important, and the proposed changes could have long-term implications on the functioning of constitutional institutions. In this context, also considering several questions raised, we call on the Armenian authorities to seek the opinion of the Venice Commission as soon as possible to obtain the view of the advisory body of the Council of Europe on constitutional law. We believe that this opinion, which can be adopted very quickly through an urgent procedure, will be valuable for all interested parties, including Armenian voters, in the event a referendum is to be held,” the statement read.