Possibility of introducing jury system is valid discussion, says MP

The possibility of introducing the jury system in the Armenian judiciary is a valid discussion, a senior lawmaker said on Friday after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan earlier suggested the move. 

Member of Parliament Vladimir Vardanyan, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on State-Legal Affairs, told reporters that such discussions aren’t new in Armenia. 

He said that the 1995 Constitution had also envisaged the possibility of using the jury system in courts.

He said that various countries have different mechanisms of jury systems, but the US has the most developed one. 

“This is a valid discussion that can be held given also the fact that the 1995 version of the Armenian Constitution defined the possibility to hold trials with participation of the jury. This is not a new discussion, the 1995 Constitution had such wording,” he said when asked about the possibility of introducing the jury system in the Armenian judiciary.

The MP emphasized that it is up to the people to decide because it would require constitutional regulations. He said determining the specific model of the jury system and its goal is important. 

The wording Vardanyan referred to in the 1995 version of the Armenian constitution, which has since been amended, stated in the judicial authority chapter that “In cases stipulated by law a trial takes place with the participation of jurors.”