Robert Kocharian's Lawyers Discuss Withdrawal of Application from the Constitutional Court

According to Factinfo, the legal team of Armenia's second President Robert Kocharian is discussing the possibility of withdrawing the application submitted to the Constitutional Court. It is possible that the legal team will announce this today.

Recall that the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia suspended the proceedings on the case based on the applications of the Yerevan City First Instance General Jurisdiction Court and Robert Kocharian on July 18, 2019, and referred the matter to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the Venice Commission for advisory opinions on contentious issues.

The conclusions of the ECHR were published on May 29, 2020, and on June 18, the Venice Commission's conclusions were released. Consequently, the grounds for suspension were removed, and proceedings were ready to resume. The Constitutional Court decided to consolidate the cases and scheduled a hearing for July 7.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly adopted a draft on constitutional amendments, which intends to terminate the powers of judges who have served for a total of 12 years, while Hrayr Tovmasyan is to continue serving as a judge. The constitutional amendments package was passed in violation of the constitution, without obtaining the conclusion of the Constitutional Court, and furthermore, civil society was not involved in the changes prescribed in the fundamental law.

Experts and opposition forces have assessed this step by the parliamentary majority as a constitutional coup. The