On 17 September, the court of general jurisdiction under the chair of Judge Anna Danibekyan rejected the petition for the release of Armenia's former president Robert Kocharyan. Kocharyan’s legal team brought up the petition for release after the ruling of the Armenian Constitutional Court (Caucasus Watch reported).

A day earlier, President of Armenia’s National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan voiced his concerns over the Constitutional Court’s decision, naming three reasons. Firstly, the Constitutional Court did not  properly consider the case and, without reasonable justification, rejected the appeal of a member of the Court based on the impossibility of participating in the investigation. Second, the manner in which the Constitutional Court appealed to the ECHR and the Venice Commission, taking into account the important fact that the Constitutional Court has already suspended consideration of these cases, and have not been dispelled so far, raised doubts. And finally, Mirozyan recalled the amendments to the Constitution that entered into force April 2018, where Constitutional Court judges were given the right to elect the chairman of the Constitutional Court. Based on these three reasons, Mirozyan called on the Armenian parliament to express its position towards the case.

Shortly after Mirozyan’s speech the lawmakers of the ruling My Step faction launched a process to terminate the powers of the President of the Constitutional Court Hrayr Tovmasyan. “Hrayr Tovmasyan failed to consider Vahe Grigoryan’s application on the impossibility of participation… The other [reason] is the close ties with a representative of the party that may, in essence, question the objectivity of the process,” said Vladimir Vardanyan, the Deputy of the My Step faction on the reasons to launch the process.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also supported the initiative deeming the Constitutional Court’s ruling over the Kocharyan case as illegal. “After the special opinion of the two members of the Constitutional Court it was obvious that the decision is illegal. Why the Constitutional Court has made such ruling is clear,” he said, adding that two of the judges had direct connection with 1 March case under which Kocharyan is charged. He also noted that the Constitutional Court is a co-author of all violations in the country, and that the Constitutional Court since 1996 confirmed all falsifications. “And it seems to them that they can continue to work against the people? In the name of corruption and fraud? The National Assembly and the people should think about what to do with such a Constitutional Court,” he concluded.

The latest developments regarding Armenia’s Constitutional Court raised concerns amongst the opposition parties and other relevant state actors. Gevorg Petrosyan from the Prosperous Armenia party doesn’t see any grounds for Tovmasyan to terminate his powers. “We are not a political force that will automatically join an initiative without studying and analyzing its foundations,” he said.

Former Deputy Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly of Arpine Hovhannisyan pointed out at the fact that Mirozyan’s speech took place on the day when the experts of the Venice Commission visited Armenia. “I sincerely regret that Mirozyan was also entangled. The authorities aren’t sparing anyone. In reality, the speech was a prelude to the thoughts that Nikol Pashinyan is going to express in his subsequent scandalous statements,” she wrote.

The first Ombudsman of Armenia Larisa Alaverdyan considers the whole state and legal system of the country as being undermined when initiatives against the constitutional court are brought up. “I don’t accept the opinions that the judges of the Constitutional Court are not trustworthy and this is the reason why their decisions are null and void. Excuse me, but playing such games with the State is very dangerous,” she said. Alaverdyan also said that Armenia is on a “dangerous path”, as it slips into a monarchy after Pashinyan called the people of Armenia to block all of the courts on 20 May (Caucasus Watch reported). “After that, no matter how many good deeds the government does and no matter how many good programs it carries out, the blow that was dealt on that day is the greatest danger for our country since it concerns Armenia’s national security,” she concluded.