Ministry of Defense Issues Statement

A statement regarding the legal and social guarantees for servicemen who are either missing or whose whereabouts are unknown has been released. The draft law on amendments and additions to the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia has been developed by the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, coordinated with relevant state bodies, and submitted for state-legal expertise to the Ministry of Justice. According to this draft law, the deadline for submitting a petition to the court for recognizing a serviceman who is missing during military operations or any other citizen as absent without leave is set at three months instead of one year, while the timeframe for the court to declare a missing serviceman deceased is reduced to one year instead of two.

The law applies to relations arising from September 27, 2020. The scope of social guarantees for servicemen recognized as absent without leave by judicial order and other individuals participating voluntarily in military operations is defined by point 2 of part 4 of Article 72 of the Law on Military Service and Servicemen's Status and by the Law on Compensation for Damage to Life or Health of Servicemen Defending the Republic of Armenia.

In order to clarify the staffing process regarding the appointment of other servicemen to the positions previously occupied by those whose whereabouts are unknown since September 27, 2020, an order has been issued by the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia. According to this order, servicemen whose whereabouts are unknown and for whom there is no information indicating desertion or clear evidence of being killed in action are deemed to be in captivity, are relieved from their military positions, and are placed at the disposal of the personnel.

Additionally, since part 13 of Article 61 of the Law on Military Service and Servicemen's Status did not stipulate the retention of the official salary rate for servicemen placed at the disposal of the personnel due to being in captivity, a corresponding draft law has been developed at the initiative of the Ministry of Defense to include this right, and the draft law has been urgently submitted to and adopted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.

According to the enacted regulations, the official salary rate for a serviceman in captivity is maintained, and its payment is carried out according to the procedure established by the order of the head of the competent state body, only if it is clearly established through a service investigation that the serviceman's capture was not a result of their voluntary leaving of the unit or place of service or battlefield and/or voluntarily surrendering, or if no criminal proceedings have been initiated under Article 382 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia regarding the serviceman.

In accordance with the requirements of the above-mentioned law, the procedure for paying the retained official salary rate for a serviceman in captivity has been established by Order No. 1169-L of the Minister of Defense dated December 7, 2020, which regulates the relationships concerning the payment of the official salary rate of the last position held by servicemen placed at the disposal of the personnel due to being in captivity (in this case, also concerning servicemen whose whereabouts are unknown) to the serviceman's family, taking into account the requirements of the law.

Order No. 1169-L of the Minister of Defense dated December 7, 2020, has been published on the official website of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia.