Armavir Regional Administration Calls on Yeghnadzor Residents to Demonstrate Tolerance and Balance

The Armavir Regional Administration has issued a clarification regarding the situation in the Yeghnadzor community. It is noted that residents were dissatisfied with the Court of Appeal's decision that required the acting community leader, Razmik Mkrtchyan, to vacate his position, in favor of reinstating the former community leader, Razmik Margaryan.

The clarification states: “Based on the resignation application submitted by the head of the Yeghnadzor community, Razmik Margaryan, to the community council on July 2, 2018, Razmik Mkrtchyan was appointed as the acting head of the Yeghnadzor community by the Armavir Regional Governor's decision No. N287 on August 24, 2018.

The decision dated August 24, 2018, was contested by Razmik Margaryan in the Administrative Court of Armenia. The regional governor's interests were represented by a delegate based on the relevant authorization provided by the governor. As a result of the complaint filed by Razmik Margaryan, on February 6, 2019, the Administrative Court ruled against the claim against the regional administration (third party Razmik Mkrtchyan).

The ruling rendered by Razmik Margaryan has been appealed to the Administrative Court of Appeals, and on November 5, 2019, the appeal was partially accepted, nullifying the part of the court ruling dated February 6, 2019, which denied Margaryan's request to declare the governor's decision No. N287 invalid and to distribute the court costs.

The final ruling upheld the decision in parts not challenged. This ruling has been contested both by the representative of the Armavir Regional Governor as well as the representative of the third party Razmik Mkrtchyan in the Supreme Court of Armenia; however, the Supreme Court's decisions on January 22, 2020, declined to accept the said appeals for proceedings.

During this entire period, numerous meetings were held by Armavir Regional Governor H. Matevosyan with both of the acting community leader R. Mkrtchyan, the majority of council members, as well as the claimant R. Margaryan. At the directive of the governor, relevant clarifications have been discussed and presented to the interested parties regarding the raised issues.

Moreover, despite his discretionary powers, Governor H. Matevosyan has not changed the acting community leader in Yeghnadzor since the start of his term in order to ensure balance.

Furthermore, during the mentioned period, a request for receiving the relevant clarification was made by Governor H. Matevosyan to the Minister of Justice of Armenia on May 11, 2020, in the letter No. N01/13/02786-2020, which was responded to by the ministry's chief secretary in letter No. N10.1/11887-2020 on June 5, stating that the stance on the issue was sent to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure on May 18, 2020, according to letter No. /10.1/10478-2020. Following this, on June 11, 2020, the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure sent a letter No. NСП/14.1/15486-2020, presenting the Minister of Justice's position, which indicated that the established procedure for prematurely terminating the powers of Yeghnadzor community leader Razmik Margaryan was not followed.

The decision No. NՄՈ/203-2020 by the Armavir Regional Governor on June 22, 2020, declared the governor’s earlier decision No. N287 void.

Also present in the case is the ruling of the Administrative Court dated May 17, 2019, in the case No. VԴ/10359/05/18, which denied Razmik Aramayis Margaryan's claim against the regional administration demanding the return of the community's round seal, administrative building, and the keys to his office. This was also appealed by Margaryan to the Administrative Court of Appeals, and the court session scheduled on May 29, 2020, was postponed, after which a notification No. N65677/20 was registered on July 1 at the Armavir Regional Administration, indicating that the court session would take place on November 20, 2020.

Meanwhile, Razmik Margaryan submitted the decision of the Administrative Court of Appeals from June 29, 2020, from the case No. VԴ/10359/05/19, which indicated the closure of the appeal proceedings due to his refusal of the claim on June 24, 2020, in the Administrative Court of Appeals.

Based on this decision, the Armavir Regional Governor's decision No. NՄՈ/219-2020 established a working group to organize the acceptance-transfer in the Yeghnadzor community.

According to Article 4 of the Constitution, state power is exercised in accordance with the Constitution and laws, based on the division of powers and balance between legislative, executive and judicial authorities, while in the provisions of Article 6, as the principle of legality, it is stated that state and local self-government bodies and officials are authorized to perform only those actions for which they are empowered by the Constitution or laws. According to Article 162, justice in the Republic of Armenia is only administered by courts in accordance with the Constitution and laws, and any interference in the administration of justice is prohibited.

According to Article 199, part 2 of the Administrative Procedure Code, the decisions of administrative courts on declaring normative legal acts as void are mandatory for everyone across the territory of the Republic of Armenia since the time of official publication.

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