Onik Gasparyan Dismissed from Position of Chief of General Staff of the RA Armed Forces

The Prime Minister's Office has issued a clarification regarding the decision made by the Administrative Court of the Republic of Armenia concerning administrative case number VD/2014/05/21.

“Onik Gasparyan, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, has been dismissed from his position on March 10, 2021, based on the power of the Presidential decree that has come into force according to constitutional norms, as acknowledged by the Prime Minister in a statement issued on the same day.

Following this, Onik Gasparyan submitted a petition to the Administrative Court of the Republic of Armenia, initially contesting the legality of the Presidential decree, which was confirmed by the Prime Minister's announcement regarding his dismissal. He requested the court to declare the Presidential decree null and void.

On March 15, 2021, the Administrative Court returned the petition and suggested that the petitioner replace the incorrectly formatted petition with the proper format (it is likely that the decision to return the petition was provided to the petitioner personally after prior notification, as on the same day the petitioner submitted a revised petition). On the same day, the amended petition was submitted, challenging the lack of a legal relationship regarding the dismissal of Onik Gasparyan from the position of Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces in the absence of an administrative act adopted by the President based on the Prime Minister's proposal.

Additionally, a request for interim measures was presented to the court. On March 17, 2021, the court granted the request for interim measures, deciding to provide temporary satisfaction of the petition until a final judicial act resolving this matter enters into legal force. This entails acknowledging the absence of a legal relationship regarding the dismissal of Onik Gasparyan from the position of Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces in the absence of an administrative act adopted by the President based on the Prime Minister's proposal.

It should be noted that according to Part 2 of Article 139 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, the relevant act, in this case, the Presidential decree is in force by virtue of law. The Constitution does not foresee the reversal of an act that has come into force under this constitutional norm. Therefore, Onik Gasparyan is dismissed from the position of Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, and the process of appointing a new Chief of General Staff is continuing according to the procedures established by Part 2 of Article 139 of the Constitution of Armenia,” the Prime Minister's Office stated in their clarification.