On the proposal of the President of Armenia to nominate candidates for the position of a judge of the Constitutional Court

Since April 9, 2018 - the day when the President assumed the office, and until May 30, 2019, the President of Armenia submitted to the National Assembly 5 candidates for the position of a judge of the Constitutional Court (one candidate withdrew his candidacy right before it was submitted to the NA).

The National Assembly rejected 4 candidates proposed by the President.

In order to present the candidacies for the position of the judge of the CC, by the NK84-A directive of the President of Armenia, back on June 11, 2018 an ad hoc consulting working group was formed and the announcement on accepting applications was made.

After interviewing each of 28 applicants, the members of the working group presented through a closed procedure their personal opinion on every candidate. The results were summarized, and the President of Armenia was given a list comprising the following three candidates: Vahe Grigorian, Gor Hovhannisian, Arthur Vagharshian.

The sequense of the names of the candidates on the list was conditioned by the number of positive assessments made by the members of the working group.

The President of Armenia presented the candidates for the judge of the Constitutional Court to the National Assembly in the same order.

1. The candidacy of Vahe Griogrian was submitted on October 18, 2018 and was rejected by the National Assembly on October 23, 2018.

2. The candidacy of Gor Hovhannisian was submitted on March 21, 2019 and was rejected by the National Assembly on April 16, 2019.

3. The candidacy of Arthur Vagharshian was submitted on May 15, 2019 and was rejected by the National Assembly on May 29, 2019.

4. The candidacy of Vahe Grigorian was re-submitted for the second time on May 30, 2019. He was elected judge of the Constitutional Court on June 18, 2019.

5. Gor Hovhannisian on July 27, 2020 refused the re-submission of his candidacy for new deliberations.

6. Arthur Vagharshian’s candidacy was re-submitted for the second time. The President of Armenia signed the paper on re-submission of Arthur Vagharshian’s candidacy.

Thus, the President of Armenia proposed candidates for the vacany of the judge of the CC based on the list of the candidates prepared by the consultative working group, following the sequence of the names as they appeared on the list.

During his meeting with the commission on constitutional reforms, the President of Armenia stated clearly his position on the process of submission of the candidates for the position of a judge of the Constitutional Court and their election process.

It would be in line with the spirit and logic of the Constitution and the objectives of judicial reforms if the President was not limited by the Constitution to make proposals on the candidates for the position of a judge of the CC but was authorized to directly appoint judges proposed by the general meeting of judges, government/National Assembly.

In this case, everyone will carry responsibility for their proposals. The composition of the Constitutional Court will be balanced, independence of the judges will be upheld since they will not be influenced by political changes. The most important for democratic governance principle of checks and balances will be implemented in full and efficiently and unbiased constitutional jusitice will be assured.