Chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, regular Cabinet meeting took place today.
The Government approved the draft law of the Republic of Armenia “On Ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court signed on July 17, 1998 and on Adopting the Statement on Retroactively Recognizing the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in accordance with Article 12, Part 3 of the Statute.”
According to the substantiation, the Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted in 1998. July 17 in Rome. The Charter entered into force in 2002. from July 1. The Republic of Armenia signed the Statute on October 1, 1999, but has not yet been ratified it. On August 13, 2004, the Constitutional Court of Armenia had recognized some of the obligations to be assumed by the Statute as contradicting the 1995 Constitution.
As noted by Minister of Justice Grigor Minasyan, it is obvious that the Constitution after the mentioned decision of the Constitutional Court, the Constitution was amended twice: in 2005 and 2015. “Taking into account the scope and depth of the two constitutional amendments, it is necessary to clarify whether the position of the Constitutional Court has changed in the light of the constitutional amendments. It should also be noted that the purpose of the Statute is to exclude the impunity of the persons who committed the most serious crimes mentioned in it and thus to contribute to the prevention of such crimes by the establishment of the International Criminal Court supplementing the domestic criminal jurisdiction bodies. Article 5 of the Statute defines the scope of crimes under the jurisdiction of the court. These crimes are genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Moreover, not only war crimes committed during armed conflicts of an international nature and other non-international nature, but also the crime of aggression are subject to the court. The necessity and urgency of the ratification of the Statute and the recognition of its jurisdiction is mainly conditioned by the large-scale military aggression and occupation of territories of the Republic of Armenia carried out by the armed forces of Azerbaijan starting from May, 2021 and then on September 13, 2022. The consequences of that aggression are still present, because until today the armed forces of Azerbaijan are still stationed in different parts of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, in the areas adjacent to civilian settlements. In order for Armenia to be able to make the Statute of the International Criminal Court applicable to the war crimes committed during the aggression against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia from May 12, 2021, along with the ratification, it is necessary to make a declaration under Article 12, Part 3 of the Statute of the ICC, retroactively recognizing the jurisdiction of the ICC since 00:00 May 12, 2021. This only applies to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It should also be emphasized that joining the ICC is referred to in the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement signed with the European Union, which affirms that the aim of the parties should be to strengthen cooperation in the promotion of peace and international justice through the ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and related documents, taking into account the legal and constitutional frameworks,” said the Minister.
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Regarding the issue, Nikol Pashinyan noted that the decision was made as a result of long discussions. “We hope that the Constitutional Court will also decide on the issue of its compliance with the Constitution, because the Constitution has really been amended twice, and according to our observations, the previous obstacles no longer exist.”
Yeghishe Kirakosyan, representative of Armenia on international legal matters, referring to the adopted decision, said: “Now we accept this package in two modes, one for ratification, the other for judicial jurisdiction, for retroactive recognition based on Article 12, Part 3 of the court’s Statute. Two in one package with one bill”, Kiarakosyan said, adding that two serious constitutional changes have occurred since 2004.
The representative of Armenia on international legal matters also informed that the Statute of the Criminal Court has been ratified by 123 countries. “In our region, Georgia is a state party to the charter. If we ratify it, two states in the region will become participating states of the International Criminal Court. As a side note, as of now, we have included in the ratification package the core Statute that include the implementation of jurisdiction for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity. The provision on the crime of aggression was added to the Statute as a result of amendments made in Kampala in 2010, which entered into force in 2018, and this agreement is a separate document. At the moment, the number of participating states is 44, but to clarify, we are talking about the core Statute at the moment”.
The Prime Minister inquired, “Mr. Kirakosyan, do we understand correctly that if the Constitutional Court decides and we pass the ratification process, we get the opportunity to open an international criminal case regarding the aggression against the sovereign territories of the Republic of Armenia?”
In response, Yeghishe Kirakosyan said: “Yes, subject to judicial jurisdiction in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, more precisely, for the purpose of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide or their prevention. And in this sense, yes, the issue of criminal responsibility will be raised before the International Criminal Court.”
The Government approved the draft law “On Amendments to the Criminal Code of Armenia”, the purpose of which is to provide legal measures directly aimed at protecting the sovereignty of the state.
Minister of Justice Grigor Minasyan noted that in the current Criminal Code, criminal responsibility is provided only for effectively stopping the action of sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia, as the most important constitutional and legal characteristic of the state defined by Article 1 of the Constitution. “Criminal liability is not provided for actions or public calls for the forced relinquishment of sovereignty, while sovereignty is the main property of the state. The sovereignty of the state is the supremacy characteristic of the state in its territory and independence in international relations. Therefore, “sovereignty” is a juridical concept reflecting the most general juridical features of a state. Therefore, the purpose of the bill is to provide legal measures aimed directly at the protection of the state’s sovereignty, as well as state security. In this context, it should be emphasized that in international documents and, in particular, in the judicial practice of the European Court of Human Rights, in the context of the protection of state security, the limitation of the right to freedom of speech was thoroughly addressed and it was considered legal and legitimate,” said the Minister.
As a result of the adoption of the bill, actions aimed at fully or partially restricting the sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia through the use of violence or the threat of violence will be considered as criminal acts. These are actions aimed at fully or partially restricting the sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia by using violence or threatening to use violence. Public calls to renounce sovereignty will also be criminalized.
“Performing public actions aimed at renouncing sovereignty will be punished by imprisonment for a period of 10-15 years, while public calls will be punished by various types of punishment, ranging from a fine to short-term imprisonment for a maximum period of 2 months, or imprisonment for a maximum period of 3 years. And if these calls are made using mass media or information technologies, then imprisonment for up to 2-5 years can be applied,” said Grigor Minasyan.
Nikol Pashinyan emphasized the adoption of the bill and noted that as a result of the planned changes, no one can publicly call, for example, about the non-existence of the Republic of Armenia as a state, and in general cannot degrade sovereignty and take actions aimed at it.
According to another decision of the Executive, 2.5 billion AMD will be allocated to the Football Federation of Armenia to build 4 football schools in Yerevan and Ararat, Gegharkunik and Tavush provinces with artificial or natural playing fields, necessary adjacent buildings, closed gymnasiums.
INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT OF THE OFFICE OF THE PRIME-MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
