Court decision: A person has the right to familiarize themselves with the materials prepared by investigative bodies in relation to their rights
20:40, June 21, 2018 | News, Own news
By decision of May 22, 2018, the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan obligated Kh. Mejlumyan, investigator of the RA Special Investigation Service (SIS) to give Yerevan resident Kh. Melkonyan the opportunity to familiarize himself with the materials prepared in relation to his rights and to copy them, if necessary.
The materials were prepared on the basis of the crime report submitted by HCA Vanadzor with the aim of defending the rights of Kh. Melkonyan, who had turned to the Organization.
On October 10, 2002, the Mayor of Yerevan issued a decision to provide Yerevan residents Kh. Melkonyan and M. Papoyan with a rental area on Tumanyan Street instead of their area in the property alienation zone of Northern Avenue. However, no lease agreement was ever concluded.
The residents decided to restore their rights in court and applied to the RA Administrative Court. By decision of July 30, 2008, the RA Administrative Court obligated the Municipality of Yerevan to implement the aforementioned decision and to conclude a lease agreement with the resident. The decision was submitted for compulsory enforcement. However, the compulsory enforcement officers did not enforce it.
After the residents’ turning to HCA Vanadzor, the Organization submitted a crime report with the RA Special Investigation Service with respect to the intentional failure to enforce the court decision.
On December 4, 2017, after Kh. Mejlumyan, investigator of particularly important cases at the RA Special Investigation Service, prepared materials, he decided not to initiate a criminal case on the ground of the absence of a crime.
Later, he rejected Kh. Melkonyan’s application on getting acquainted with the materials referring to his rights and copying them, if necessary. The investigator provided the argument that there is no such procedure under the RA Criminal Procedure Code.
Meanwhile, despite the fact that the prepared materials refer to Kh. Melkonyan’s rights, he also provided explanation during the investigation and filed an application on familiarizing himself with the materials under the RA Law on Archives Business, which does not place limitations on getting familiar with materials of such nature.
On February 8, 2018, with the support of HCA Vanadzor, Kh. Melkonyan filed an appeal with the court. The appeal was substantiated by the fact that, in accordance with the case law of the RA Court of Cassation and the RA law, a person has the right to appeal the decisions referring to their rights. This presupposes that they shall have the right to familiarize themselves with the facts lying at the basis of those decisions.
That means that the right to an effective remedy of legal protection, which is stipulated by the European Convention on Human Rights and the RA Constitution, is violated through not being given this opportunity.
By decision of May 22, 2018, the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan argued that “the decision on rejecting to initiate a criminal case directly refers to Kh. Melkonyan’s rights and legitimate interests. He shall have the opportunity to fully familiarize himself with the prepared materials and to receive their copies, if necessary”.
Prior to this, on April 3, 2018, the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan upheld the appeal by Kh. Melkonyan and M. Papoyan and annulled the decision rendered by investigator Kh. Mejlumyan on December 4, 2017 about rejecting to initiate a criminal case.