The Article Used to Dismiss Onik Gasparyan Recognized as Constitutional by the Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court has recognized Article 40, Part 3 of the Law on Military Service and the Status of Military Personnel of the Republic of Armenia as compliant with the Constitution. This information was provided to 168.am by the press secretary of the Constitutional Court, Eva Tovmasyan, who added that the decision will be published on the official website of the Court within a three-day timeframe.

President Armen Sarkissian had approached the country's highest court to challenge the constitutionality of the aforementioned article. It is noteworthy that on March 2, 2021, after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had presented a decree to dismiss Onik Gasparyan from the position of Chief of Staff for the second time, Armen Sarkissian did not sign it, stating that he would submit a separate application to the Constitutional Court to determine the compliance of the Law on Military Service and the Status of Military Personnel with the Constitution.

While many expected the president to address the Constitutional Court to challenge the decree proposed by Pashinyan, Article 40, Part 3 of the Law on Military Service and the Status of Military Personnel, which came into effect on June 21, 2018, essentially stipulates that a high-ranking military official can be dismissed without cause.