Armenian Justice Ministry denies fringe outlet’s claims of Pashinyan interfering in judiciary, labels article as disinformation

The Armenian Ministry of Justice has denied the claims made in an article published by VT Foreign Policy, a fringe media website, which accused Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of having “placed judges loyal to him at all levels of the judicial system” in the run-up to the elections.

In a statement, the Ministry of Justice emphasized that the Armenian Prime Minister has no authority, influence, or involvement in the selection and appointment of judges.

“The claims in question are disinformation and do not correspond to the constitutional and legal regulations in force in the Republic of Armenia. We emphasize that the Prime Minister of Armenia has no authority, influence, or involvement at any stage of the selection or appointment of judges, and that the process of appointing judges is carried out exclusively in accordance with constitutional and legal provisions,” the ministry’s statement reads.

The statement also highlights that the procedure for selecting and appointing judges in the Republic of Armenia is clearly defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia and the Constitutional Law on the Judicial Code of the Republic of Armenia.

“For example, the selection of a first-instance judge is carried out through a multi-stage, competitive, and transparent procedure, which includes: Submission and verification of candidates’ applications; a written qualification exam in the relevant field of specialization; provision of an advisory opinion on integrity by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption; an interview to assess professional and personal qualities.

Based on the results of these stages, the Supreme Judicial Council forms a list of candidates, which is submitted to the Justice Academy for mandatory training. After completing training at the Academy, the candidates are included in the appropriate lists of judicial candidates, and only those included in these lists can be presented to the President of the Republic for appointment.

Judges of first-instance and appellate courts are appointed by the President of the Republic upon the recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Council. In the case of judges of the Court of Cassation, candidates are presented by the National Assembly, which selects one of the three candidates proposed by the Supreme Judicial Council,” the statement reads.

The statement also emphasizes that the process of selecting and appointing judges cannot serve political purposes or be linked to electoral processes. Claims made by VT Foreign Policy regarding this matter are not based on facts or legal grounds and constitute disinformation, the ministry said.