"Zhoghovurd" daily writes:
"The representatives of Nikol Pashinyan's government, who called the judges "grieving under the walls", do not give rest to judicial independence, which even theoretically can be demonstrated in any courtroom. Today, the parliament will vote on the long-circulated draft on making amendments to the RA Judicial Code constitutional law, which clearly limits the guarantees of independence of judges. In particular, according to the new draft, only 4 votes out of 11 members are required to initiate proceedings against the judges.
Let us inform you that at the moment the commission consists of 8 members, of which 6 are judges, 2 are non-judge members, who are elected by the general assembly of judges. "Zhoghovurd" daily informed that the number of members will be increased according to the new project, it will consist of 11 members, of which 5 will be non-judge members and 6 will be judges. Experts are convinced that the said will make the judges vulnerable, because the committee with representatives of the public sector will try to saturate, pressure and initiate disciplinary proceedings against the judges, because in case of a 5 to 4 vote from the non-judge members, disciplinary proceedings will be initiated against any judge.
Many specialists claim that it would be correct, for example, for the threshold to be initiated to be 6 or more, and the threshold for sending a judge's question to the SC, for example, not 6, as in the draft, but at least 8. This is an obvious interference in the independence of judges and the work of that community. "Zhoghovurd" daily learned that the project also proposes the following: "Moreover, after the day of being elected as a member of the Ethics and Disciplinary Affairs Committee, until the end of his term of office, a member who is not a judge cannot perform judicial representation in the general jurisdiction, specialized, appellate courts and the Court of Cassation of the Republic of Armenia."
Neither in the previous draft, nor now, there is any provision regarding retroactivity, however, during the discussion in the State Legal Commission on 14.01.2026, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Tigran Dadunts insisted that this norm should be retroactive, which is clearly unconstitutional, because it is a worsening norm. According to the main law, any aggravating norm cannot have retroactive effect.
Vladimir Vardanyan, the chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, said that it is not necessary to limit the appearance in the courts, but to take a more drastic approach: in the case of a lawyer member, the license should be suspended. It should be reminded that recently the elections were held as a result of free expression of the judges.
Additionally, the work of a non-judge member of the commission is compensatory work, and the elected member has a legitimate expectation of being paid for 4 years. And in the case of approval of the project, not only does that member face a dilemma in an unconstitutional way: to remain in the committee or practice advocacy, but he is also deprived of a legitimate expectation. After all, this project interferes with the election of judges, which is unacceptable."
Details in today's issue of "Zhoghovurd" daily.
