Constitutional Court to be vested with new powers

YEREVAN, December 21. /ARKA/. The Armenian parliament has passed today in the first reading a set of amendments to the Law on Constitution and several relating laws, which according to deputy justice minister Artur Hovhannisyan, vest new powers into the Constitutional Court. He said the Court will be able to exercise the new powers after the formal transition of Armenia from semi-presidential form of government to parliamentary republic, expected next spring.

"The Constitutional Court will be entitled to resolve disputes concerning the constitutionality of decisions of state bodies. The changes stipulate that the president of the country, the parliament, or parliament members (if they collect  1/5 of the signatures of parliamentarians), as well as courts and  local self-government bodies will be able to ask the Constitutional Court to verify or deny the constitutionality of government decisions or laws.

According to the deputy minister, the appointment of cabinet ministers or prime ministers, certain decisions of government bodies may also be challenged in court. Hovhanisyan also noted that for the first time the Constitutional Court gets the opportunity to suspend the powers of parliament members. Earlier, this right was vested only in the parliament.

The deputy minister added that the highest court of the country may look into violations committed by its judges  and suspend their powers on the basis of a court decision. --0--