On February 8, the National Assembly continued to debate the issue of the election of the candidates nominated for the vacant position of the judge of the Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation. Artur Atabekyan’s candidacy was debated the previous day.
Let’s remind that the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) nominated Artur Atabekyan, Arman Ohanyan and Gurgen Malkhasyan for the vacancy of the judge of the Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation.
The Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) Karen Andreasyan presented the biographical data and the work experience of Arman Ohanyan and Gurgen Malkhasyan.
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The RA NA President Alen Simonyan inquired about the proceedings in civil cases, in particular, in making of judgments in defamation and insult cases. According to the Speaker of Parliament, the court agrees that an insult and defamation took place, but the judges avoid setting a large amount of compensation, due to which even the expenses of the person who submitted the claim are not compensated.
“The judge has a range of discretion given to him by the legislative body,” Karen Andreasyan noted, adding that it is based on the precedential law of the European Court of Human Rights that each time the court decides by itself what liability the entity abusing the freedom of speech should be subjected to due to his financial situation.
In response to another observation by Alen Simonyan, Karen Andreasyan spoke about the independence of the judicial system and mentioned. “Yes, on the one hand, parties mustn’t put pressure on the judge in any way, but on the other hand, the judge should not think that any illegality can go unpunished. For that, there are clear ways to apply to the SJC, and the SJC will definitely hold accountable the judge in the fairest way who violated any human rights.” He expressed willingness to organize meetings and debate the issues of the judicial system in detail.
The candidate for the judge of the Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation Gurgen Malkhasyan, in particular, spoke about the constitutional mission of the Court of Cassation, the process of justice, the interpretation of legal norms in judicial practice, the role of the Court of Cassation in judicial processes.
In the Q&A session, the candidate touched upon the effectiveness of the fight against corruption, the mechanisms for resolving the court cases.
The candidate Arman Ohanyan thanked the SJC for submitting his candidacy to the National Assembly for the position in the Court of Cassation.
According to the rapporteur, the decision of the Court of Cassation is also responsible for the increase in the authority of the judiciary and the restoration of the public faith in justice. The candidate underlined that in the field of civil justice, in particular, over the last 10-15 years, the overloading of the RA courts, including the Court of Cassation, and the procrastination of judicial processes have become one of the main problems facing the judicial power of our country. “Among other factors, this circumstance also contributed to the decrease of the public’s trust in the courts and the representatives of the judiciary. However, I am optimistic and I believe that as a result of the active interaction of the three wings of the power , we will have substantially less burdened courts in the near future.”
During the exchange of ideas, the deputies talked about the necessity to increase the rating of the judicial system, highlighted the increase of public trust in the judiciary. In their speeches, the parliamentarians also referred to the possibility of changing some provisions of the Constitution, the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agenda, etc.
National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia