On March 24, Armenia’s Constitutional Court gave the green light for the Parliament to ratify the Rome Statute. The court ruled that the treaty aligns with the Constitution of Armenia. With this decision, Armenia is now on track to become a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The ICC, headquartered in The Hague, is the first permanent international tribunal responsible for prosecuting war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and military aggression. In 1998, Armenia, along with 120 other countries, signed the Rome Statute, which is the ICC’s founding treaty. However, in 2004, the Armenian Constitutional Court declared that the Statute was partially incompatible with the Armenian constitution and, therefore, could not be ratified. In December last year, PM Pashinyan’s government requested that the court reexamine the Rome Statute and assess whether it aligns with the Armenian constitution.

Armenian Justice Minister Grigor Minasyan said that parliamentary ratification of the treaty would allow Yerevan to appeal to the ICC over Azerbaijan’s military attacks on Armenian territory launched in May 2021.

The Armenian Parliament still must ratify the Rome Statute. Under Armenian law, the government has up to three months to seek parliamentary ratification in such cases. 

It is important to note that the decision was made one week following the ICC’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over war crimes allegedly committed by Russia in Ukraine.

According to Ara Zakarian, an Armenian expert in international law, “possible ratification of the ICC treaty would obligate the Armenian authorities to arrest Putin and extradite him to the Hague tribunal if he visits the South Caucasus country.” Zakaryan, however, said that the ratification process is likely to be halted. 

On March 24, the Kremlin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Yerevan has yet to clarify its position regarding the ICC warrant for Putin.

Read also: Armenia to Ratify International Criminal Court Treaty