0 8000 12 11

Within the framework of the examination of the case on Lia Misakyan, the 27-month-old child who died in January 2013 at the Arabkir Medical Center, a court hearing was scheduled for 4.30 pm on February 2, 2018 at the Court of First Instance of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zaytun Administrative Districts in Yerevan, presided by Judge M. Melkonyan.

At the appointed time, Tatevik Siradeghyan, advocate at the representative office of HCA Vanadzor in Yerevan, who is the representative of the legal successor of the aggrieved party Lia Misakyan, showed up at the location of the First Instance Court of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun Administrative Districts in Yerevan; yet there she found out that M. Melkonyan, the presiding judge, had already moved to the Avan residence of the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan. T. Siradeghyan did not have the opportunity to talk to the representatives of M. Melkonyan’s staff as it was informed from the Avan residence that they had not yet finished the process of relocating.

We certainly accept that technical issues could have arisen because of the creation of the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan and the relocation of judges; however, they should not get in the way of ensuring of the participants’ right to a fair trial of a criminal case in a reasonable time. Yet, after the RA Court of Cassation additionally sent the ruling on this case for a new examination, Judge M. Melkonyan initiated proceedings on October 25, 2016, and the case is still being examined.

Anyway, we believe that M. Melkonyan, the presiding judge, and the latter’s staff should at least inform the trial participants of the court hearing not being held, especially because T. Siradeghyan, the representative of the legal successor of the aggrieved party, had previously checked that the court hearing would take place at the residence of the Court of General Jurisdiction of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun Administrative Districts in Yerevan.