Ombudsman filed in the Constitutional Court

Human Rights Defender of Armenia Karen Andreasyan filed in the Constitutional Court yesterday, to issue a dictum whether Article 1087.1 of the Civil Code (“Procedure and conditions of compensating for harm to honor, dignity or business reputation”) was in line with Article 14, Section 1, 2 and 3 of Article 27, and Article 43 of the Constitution. According to Radio Liberty, the message spread by Ombudsman’s public-relations department informed about the above-mentioned. Karen Andreasyan mentioned his intention to apply to the Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of the articles of the Civil Code related to slander and offence.
The Armenian mass media run the gauntlet of criticism for the amendments decriminalizing slander, because after those were adopted the respective lawsuits brought against the mass media were fully or partially won and the newspapers had to pay big fines.