The Human Rights Defender considers it necessary to reflect on the RA Prime Minister’s call to close all the entrances and exits of the country’s courts by stating the following:
1. In the Republic of Armenia, the realization of state power should be guaranteed according to the Constitution and laws based on separation and the balance of the legislative, executive and judicial power. Each of these powers or officials representing them have a responsibility of respect each other and be guided only by the provisions and scope of one’s mandate.
2. In the Republic of Armenia, the interference into the court activities and the administration of justice is prohibited.
3. The requirement for an effective judicial authority in the country assumes a complete independence of the court and the judge both from the legislative and executive bodies, and any other body or an official, as well as a complete prohibition of any interference by any other body or individual.
4. These requirements are not accidental. The courts are to guarantee the judicial security of the country and the stability of the judicial system. Their activities are directed towards the uninterrupted realization of human rights protection. With their daily activities the courts are supposed to provide the realization of an individual’s personal liberty, fair trial and other rights.
5. In Armenia’s judicial system there definitely are issues including related to the external and internal independence of the courts, the lack of the citizen’s trust towards the court, the guarantee of a fair trial. Moreover, the complaints addressed to the Human Rights Defender show that there are cases when individual judges harm the reputation of the judicial system with their behavior. These all is a result of not having learnt from the past mistakes and previously given improper attention to the issues of the field. These topics are reflected in the Human Rights Defender’s reports in detail. Nevertheless, the current issues should be solved exclusively through judicial procedures.
6.In the whole procedure the primary and essentially commitment should be the guarantee of the judicial body’s complete independence, which has a direct effect on the fair trial and other constitutional rights.
7. From here follows the constitutional requirement for state and local self-government bodies to refrain from such activities that can endanger or harm the independence of the judge or the court.
8. Therefore, the RA Prime Minister’s call and announcement for closing all the entrances and exits of all the republic’s courts by prohibiting anyone to go inside is very dangerous for the country’s judicial security and stability.
9. I strongly urge all those persons who hold state or other public positions to immediately stop the calls and demands of closing the entrances and exits of the courts. You are obliged to perform exclusively the functions that are prescribed by the Constitution, the law or another legal act. You have a concrete legal mandate and are limited to that mandate. Any deviation can result in accountability.
10. I ask all the Armenian citizens to refrain from any activities blocking court’s entrance: any tension should be excluded. The social network monitoring shows that citizens have intolerant behavior, insult and threaten one another. This is dangerous from the perspective of the human rights protection. I ask you to conduct all the discussions in an atmosphere of solidarity and in mutual tolerance with utmost respect towards the rule of law.
11. The RA Human Rights Defender’s Office will be working from early morning to ensure impartial monitoring of the procedures.
Arman Tatoyan
The RA Human Rights Defender