The Constitutional Amendments Archives
Opinion on the compliance of the provisions of Draft Electoral Code of the Republic of Armenia with international standards
According to the Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia adopted on 6 December 2015,new Electoral Code is planned to be adoptedby 1 June 2016.The responsible bodies to participate inthe elaboration and submission of the Electoral Code were the Ministry of Justice and the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Armenia,and 1 March 2016 wasthe deadline set up for submission of the Draftto the National Assembly for discussionprovided by presidential decree of 10 February 2016.
Appeal on HCAV v. RA SIS dismissed
On April 25, 2016, the RA Administrative Court, presided by judge T. Sahakyan, examined the appeal by HCA Vanadzor against the ruling of the General Jurisdiction Court of First Instance of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun administrative districts of Yerevan city, RA dated March 12, 2016.
Constitutional referendum 6 December 2015 OSCE/ODIHR Referendum expert team Final Report
Following an invitation from the Government of the Republic of Armenia to observe the 6 December Constitutional Referendum, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) on 26 November deployed a Referendum Expert Team (RET) to observe the Constitutional Referendum. The OSCE/ODIHR RET focused on the legal framework, referendum administration, and the campaign and media. The OSCE/ODIHR RET did not assess the content of the constitutional amendments or observe proceedings on referendum day in a systematic manner.
HCA Vanadzor Report on Adoption Process of Imposed Constitutional Amendments
By the RA President’s Decree № NH-207-N dated September 4, 2013, a Professional Commission on Constitutional Reforms was set up with the assignment to develop a Concept Paper for RA Constitutional Reforms and Draft Constitutional Reforms. According to the Decree above, the constitutional amendments were necessitated by “… the need for improvement of the constitutional mechanisms to ensure the application of the rule of law principle and guarantee fundamental human rights and freedoms, secure the perfect balance of powers and improve the efficiency of public administration.”
While it took the Commission headed by Gagik Harutyunyan, President of the RA Constitutional Court, 2 years to develop the Draft Constitutional Reforms, the public at large had no more than 2 months to get familiar with the Draft above and to discuss it in public debates. The RA National Assembly held only a 1-day public debate on the Draft. As for RA National Assembly deputies, they essentially discussed the Draft for only 4 days, and the final draft was delivered to them only 1 hour prior to the voting.
Misunderstanding on the part of investigator
On December 6, 2015, S. Soghomonyan, HCA Vanadzor lawyer and observer involved by the Organization, visited the precinct № 30/21 at 49, Nizami St., Vanadzor to attend the RA Constitutional Referendum and to vote. At the same, time S. Soghomonyan also observed the voting process at the precinct above, since there were no observers there.
HCA Vanadzor applied to court requiring to stop the inaction of he Special Investigation Service
As already reported, on December 10, 2015, HCA Vanadzor filed a crime report to the RA SIS on falsified outcomes of the constitutional referendum of December 6, 2015 and particularly a substantial doubt of ballot stuffing at the polling stations with a voter turnout totaling 50-100%.