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ARMENIAN OMBUDSMAN LAMENTS LACK OF COURT INDEPENDENCE
By Hovannes Shoghikian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 4 2007
Armen Harutiunian, the state human rights ombudsman, complained on
Wednesday about a continuing lack of judicial independence in Armenia,
saying that local courts were the main source of citizen complaints
received by his office last year.
Presenting his first annual report, Harutiunian said almost 13 percent
of 1,247 complaints filed with the Office of the Human Rights Defender
had to do with decisions made by various-level courts.
"The number of complaints filed against courts shows that there is a
lot of distrust in the judicial system, which is supposed to be the
main institution of human rights protection," he said. "The courts
must become as independent as possible."
The 223-page report draws the same conclusion: "Although a defendant's
disaffection with a guilty verdict can be deemed natural, the large
number of such complaints gives us reason to conclude that the
population's trust in the courts is far from satisfactory."
Armenian courts rarely acquit criminal suspects and hand down other
rulings going against the wishes of law-enforcement and government
bodies. Many lawyers say this fact testifies to their lack of
independence. Some blame it on Armenia's post-Soviet constitution
that gives the president of the republic the right to appoint and
dismiss virtually all judges. That authority was somewhat restricted
by constitutional amendments enacted in November 2005.
Harutiunian, himself a constitutional law expert, specifically
faulted the courts for rejecting just about every lawsuit against
controversial confiscations of land and house demolitions ordered by
the Yerevan municipality in recent years. "The courts rule that the
mayor can allow construction anywhere he wants," he said.
Yerevan courts continued to rule against owners of houses demolished
by municipal authorities as part of redevelopment projects implemented
in the city center even after Armenia's Constitutional Court declared
the process unconstitutional last year.
Incidentally, the municipality was the second largest source of citizen
appeals to Harutiunian's office in 2006, followed by the Armenian
police and the Ministry of Justice. Harutiunian said he will put the
Yerevan mayor's office under closer scrutiny this year because of
"blatant" violations of the law alleged by many city residents.
By Hovannes Shoghikian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 4 2007
Armen Harutiunian, the state human rights ombudsman, complained on
Wednesday about a continuing lack of judicial independence in Armenia,
saying that local courts were the main source of citizen complaints
received by his office last year.
Presenting his first annual report, Harutiunian said almost 13 percent
of 1,247 complaints filed with the Office of the Human Rights Defender
had to do with decisions made by various-level courts.
"The number of complaints filed against courts shows that there is a
lot of distrust in the judicial system, which is supposed to be the
main institution of human rights protection," he said. "The courts
must become as independent as possible."
The 223-page report draws the same conclusion: "Although a defendant's
disaffection with a guilty verdict can be deemed natural, the large
number of such complaints gives us reason to conclude that the
population's trust in the courts is far from satisfactory."
Armenian courts rarely acquit criminal suspects and hand down other
rulings going against the wishes of law-enforcement and government
bodies. Many lawyers say this fact testifies to their lack of
independence. Some blame it on Armenia's post-Soviet constitution
that gives the president of the republic the right to appoint and
dismiss virtually all judges. That authority was somewhat restricted
by constitutional amendments enacted in November 2005.
Harutiunian, himself a constitutional law expert, specifically
faulted the courts for rejecting just about every lawsuit against
controversial confiscations of land and house demolitions ordered by
the Yerevan municipality in recent years. "The courts rule that the
mayor can allow construction anywhere he wants," he said.
Yerevan courts continued to rule against owners of houses demolished
by municipal authorities as part of redevelopment projects implemented
in the city center even after Armenia's Constitutional Court declared
the process unconstitutional last year.
Incidentally, the municipality was the second largest source of citizen
appeals to Harutiunian's office in 2006, followed by the Armenian
police and the Ministry of Justice. Harutiunian said he will put the
Yerevan mayor's office under closer scrutiny this year because of
"blatant" violations of the law alleged by many city residents.