The Decision to Declare Quarantine Cannot Currently Be Considered in Effect, Says Ruben Melikyan

The analysis of the government's decision numbered 1514-N, published just moments before the end of the state of emergency, can plunge even the most composed lawyers into despair. This was written by human rights defender Ruben Melikyan on his Facebook page.

“It is simply an intercontinental record holder of legal negligence. Thus, according to point 4 of the government’s decision, it enters into force immediately after publication. However, according to Article 23, Part 1 of the Law on Normative Legal Acts of the Republic of Armenia, 'Normative legal acts enter into force within the timeframes specified therein, but not earlier than from the official publication of the given act, unless it is expressly stipulated by law that the said normative legal act enters into force immediately after its publication.' According to Part 4 of the same article, 'Laws that are considered urgent, normative legal acts related to martial law or a state of emergency may enter into force immediately after publication, if stipulated by that act.' The government’s decision is not a law and is not related to martial law or a state of emergency (on the contrary, it is related to the end of the state of emergency). Therefore, it CANNOT enter into force immediately after publication, but at the earliest, the following day after publication. Moreover, according to Part 5 of the same article, 'A normative legal act in which the term of entry into force is not provided enters into force on the tenth day following its official publication.' Perhaps if we assign any legal value to this decision, then we should apply this rule and consider that the decision enters into force on the tenth day after publication.

According to Article 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, 'In order to ensure the implementation of the Constitution and laws, the bodies prescribed by the Constitution may be AUTHORIZED by law to adopt subordinate normative legal acts.' The Government of the Republic of Armenia is authorized by relevant laws, while in specific cases (for example, regarding the requirement to wear masks), the Government's decision 1514-N circumvents the law and re-assigns its authority to another body, namely the Ministry of Health. This contradicts both the Constitution and the enabling laws, such as the Republic of Armenia's laws on 'Ensuring the Sanitary and Epidemiological Safety of the Population of the Republic of Armenia' and 'Protection of the Population in Emergency Situations,'” wrote Ruben Melikyan.