New Developments Around Candidates for Constitutional Court Judge. Will the National Assembly Elect One of the Three?

The newspaper 'Zhoghovurd' reports: 'Significant developments are occurring regarding candidates for the Constitutional Court judgeship. The 'Zhoghovurd' daily has learned that the Anti-Corruption Commission has issued an exclusive conclusion regarding the past performance of candidate Yervand Khundkaryan for the position of Constitutional Court judge. In particular, according to our information, the advisory conclusion of the commission states that due to the judicial decisions made by Khundkaryan, Armenia has faced serious financial issues. The matter is that the European Court of Human Rights has ordered Armenia to pay large sums, a significant portion of which revolves around decisions adjudicated by Khundkaryan.

Now, the ruling faction in the National Assembly finds itself in a difficult situation: how can they vote in favor of Khundkaryan under these circumstances? It should be noted that the candidate proposed by the President of Armenia, Arthur Vagharchyan, is also unacceptable to the ruling faction, as he has already been rejected once by the same majority. There are now fears that he may not be elected again.

If the National Assembly does not elect Khundkaryan or Vagharchyan, there will be issues with quorum at the Constitutional Court of Armenia. One thing is clear now: discussions are ongoing about electing at least one of the three candidates, Edgar Shatiryans, as Constitutional Court judge, who has a relatively uncontroversial past, although there are mentions of an uncle who holds a high position in the NSS. Overall, the country is facing a challenge of finding a legal scholar with an impeccable biography,' the newspaper writes.