President Sarkissian nominates Vahe Grigoryan’s candidacy for judge of Constitutional Court

YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian nominated Vahe Grigoryan’s candidacy for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court, the Presidential Office said in a statement.

“It’s at least a year the President of the Republic is engaged in the process of nominating a candidate for the judge of the Constitutional Court to the Parliament aimed at filling that vacant position within the frames of his powers granted by the Constitution.

The President has carried out this responsible process through public and democratic working style, committed to his constitutional powers, preserving the constitutional norms and taking into consideration the principles of impartiality and objectivity. In order to get proposals on the possible candidates and opinions on the nominees, the Armenian President has initiated a series of procedures which are in line with the law, met with numerous specialists of the law field, leading representatives of the law community, including scientific and attorney circles.

Within a year, although several announcements were made on accepting the candidates’ applications, the number of possible candidates has been very limited. This means that the selection of the candidate for the CC judge is limited to the circle of just several individual lawyers who meet this position.

Highlighting the effectiveness of the legal system and also the activity of the Constitutional Court, taking into account the fact that the selection of the candidate of the CC judge cannot turn into an endless process, become a subject of political bargaining or speculations, based on the results of the recent discussions held with the representatives of the law community and the possible candidates for the judge of the Constitutional Court, the President proposes Vahe Grigoryan’s candidacy.

The President of the Republic hopes that if elected as judge of the Constitutional Court Vahe Grigoryan will bring his contribution to raising the effectiveness of the activity of the Court, implementing constitutional justice and etc”, the statement says.

On October 19, 2018, President Armen Sarkissian has already nominated Vahe Grigoryan’s candidacy for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court, however, he failed to be confirmed as CC judge during a hearing in parliament. 30 MPs voted in favor of his candidacy, while 23 voted against. At that time the Republican Party of Armenia was the ruling political force in the Parliament.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan