“We have absolutely no problems: The 30-year limitation applies only to persons who have already held the positions before the law entered into force, therefore everything is legal”, Deputy Minister of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia David Sargsyan clarified the concerns regarding the appointment of Vagharshak Hakobyan as Adviser to the Armenian Minister of Diaspora.
Let us remind that the press voiced concerns that the appointment of Vagharshak Hakobyan as Adviser by Minister of Diaspora Mkhitar Hayrapetyan is illegal because he does not meet the requirements of the Public Service specified in paragraph 5 of Article 8 of the Law of the Republic of Armenia. “According to this Article only persons who have higher education, at least three years of public service experience or persons with at least five years of work experience in the field of employment required by the official passport, who are over 30”.
The Deputy Minister explained: “Firstly when a reference is made to a certain provision of the law, it is not necessary for this provision to apply beyond the law. While making a reference you should consider the law generally in proportion to the other article. Paragraph 8 of the same article notes that an adviser should be appointed in accordance with the official passport: in this case, the age limit of 30 for an adviser does not apply in our official passport, thus there is no such problem in terms of the law”.
David Sargsyan also referred to paragraph 5 of Article 58 of the same law, which states that paragraph 5 of Article 8, indicating the 30-year limit, applies to persons who are in office before the law enters into force.
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
