Supreme Court Records Violations by Judge A. Danielyan in R. Kocharian's Case

The Supreme Court has recorded that Judge Armen Danielyan committed significant procedural violations against Robert Kocharian. This was reported by the legal team of the second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharian.

The Supreme Court annulled the judicial act issued by the appellate criminal court Judge Armen Danielyan, noting that the decision to appeal to the Constitutional Court could not be examined in that venue.

It is noteworthy that on May 20, 2019, the first-instance court Judge David Grigoryan, by satisfying the request of Robert Kocharian's defense team, suspended the proceedings of the case and referred the matter to the Constitutional Court regarding the constitutionality of Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code.

Prosecutor Petros Petrosyan and representative of the victims’ legal heirs Vahe Grigoryan submitted appellate complaints, which were accepted in the decision made by Armen Danielyan on June 25, 2019. However, both before the submission of complaints and during the appellate criminal court proceedings, the defense insisted that the question of appealing to the Constitutional Court could not be examined by the appellate court at all.

On March 17, 2021, the Supreme Court examined Robert Kocharian’s defense's cassation appeal against the judicial act of the appellate court Judge Armen Danielyan and found that the first-instance court’s decision to appeal to the Constitutional Court could not be reviewed by the appellate criminal court.

The Supreme Court concurred with the defense and simply recorded that the constitutional legal dispute raised by the first-instance court was to be resolved solely by the Constitutional Court.

Consequently, the discussions raised for about two years regarding the appeal to the Constitutional Court related to Article 300.1, voiced by Judge Grigoryan, were not only unfounded but also constituted significant procedural violations.