Law 12:12 19/06/2020 Armenia

Venice Commission delivers opinion on Article 300.1 of Armenia’s Criminal Code

The Venice Commission adopted on Thursday an amicus curiae brief relating to Article 300.1 of Armenia’s Criminal Code which penalizes overthrowing the constitutional order requested by the country’s Constitutional Court.

For the amicus curiae brief, the Constitutional Court of Armenia has asked the Venice Commission five specific questions:

1) Do the offences against the constitutional order prescribed in the criminal laws of the member States of the Venice Commission contain references to constitutions or their specific articles?

2) How are the concepts of constitutional order, overthrow of the constitutional order, usurpation of power described in the relevant legal acts of the member States of the Venice Commission and, in particular, in criminal laws, and are there judicial interpretations of these concepts?

3) Which are the European standards for the requirement of certainty of a criminal law?

4) Do the legislations of the member States of the Venice Commission stipulate a similar offence to the one prescribed in Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia?

5) If so, which is the best practice from the perspective of legal certainty?

The Venice Commission’s secretariat has received information from most of the members of the Venice Commission with respect to the above-mentioned questions. As the material received is not comprehensive and shows significant differences in the issues addressed and the detail provided, the conclusions drawn can only be tentative.

According to the commission, when it comes to dealing with offences against the constitutional order (or its equivalent), national constitutions and legislation tend to vary among Venice Commission member states. In countries in which offences against the constitutional order – described as such – exist in the criminal law, an explicit reference to specific articles of the constitution seems to be lacking.

On the other hand, a number of constitutions explicitly refer to the duty of respecting the constitutional order, however while some define it

Nonetheless, the conclusion may be drawn that most (if not all because the terms used slightly differ as seen above) of the criminal law provisions implicitly refer to the constitution by citing certain constitutional principles, such as sovereignty, territorial integrity, principle of democracy, or by referring to certain constitutional institutions, such as parliament, institutions/government organs established by the constitution. By means of such references, criminal law provisions indirectly refer to the respective articles of the constitution that specify these principles or establish and govern these institution, the amicus curiae brief states.

In most member states, statutory provisions do not provide any legal definition of the concept of “constitutional order” or what would constitute “overthrowing the constitutional order” or the “usurpation of power”.

In conclusion, member states, for the most part, report that the statutory provisions governing these concepts have not been applied to this day. Therefore, there seems to be no common best practice as to the factual circumstances.

With respect to the prohibition of retroactivity of criminal laws and the requirement of providing sufficiently clear and precise definitions of criminal acts in laws, criticisms of imprecisions regarding the concepts of constitutional order and the overthrowing of the constitutional order might be appeased in the knowledge that there seems to be a convergence among the member states of the Venice Commission to leave these concepts undefined or imprecise. Hence, no conclusion can be drawn with respect to what constitutes a best practice from the perspective of legal certainty.

Nevertheless, in view of this principle and the principle of proportionality, it seems only reasonable to expect that the more broadly the statutory provision is worded, the more consideration should be given to the individual freedoms and basic rights of the accused. Such a provision should be interpreted narrowly, taking into account the principle in dubio pro reo, the amicus curiae brief concludes.

The Venice Commission says it remains at the disposal of the Armenian Constitutional Court for further assistance in this matter.



Source Panorama.am
Share |

Related news

Տեքստում սխալ կամ վրիպակ նկատելու դեպքում, ուղարկեք խմբագրին հաղորդագրություն` նշելով տվյալ սխալը, այնուհետև սեղմելով Ctrl-Enter:

Newsfeed

17:03
National Geographic: How to plan a wine-tasting tour of Armenia
As Armenia prepares to host the 8th UN Tourism Global Conference on Wine Tourism between 11-13 September 2024, National Geographic rounds up the...
16:32
U,S. Embassy rejects arrested activist Narek Samsonyan's letter
The U.S. Embassy in Yerevan on Friday refused to accept an open letter from arrested opposition activist and Imnemnimi podcast co-host Narek...
16:09
Reporter accuses Armenian authorities of crackdown on dissent
Chairman of the Civic Consciousness NGO, founder of AntiFake.am media outlet, political prisoner Narek Samsonyan wrote an open letter-inquiry to...
15:30
Varsen Aghabekian named Palestine's state minister
Armenian Varsen Aghabekian has been appointed Palestine's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, WAFA reported....
14:54
Ameriabank named Best Bank in Armenia for 2024 by Global Finance
Ameriabank has been named the Best Bank in Armenia by Global Finance magazine in its 31st annual awards for the World’s Best Banks....
14:35
MP Tigran Abrahamyan blasts Pashinyan for threatening Artsakh leaders
Opposition MP Tigran Abrahamyan has decried Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statements in which he slammed Artsakh’s...
13:59
Queen Camilla says Kate is 'thrilled by all the kind wishes and support'
Princess Kate is "thrilled by all the kind wishes and support" after sharing her cancer news, Queen Camilla has said. The...
13:35
MP Levon Kocharyan warns of false statements
Opposition Hayastan faction MP Levon Kocharyan has warned his supporters over false and misleading statements being disseminated on his...
13:08
Armenian expert warns against land handover to Azerbaijan
Political scientist Suren Petrosyan warns that the handover of four border villages in Tavush Province to Azerbaijan would pave the way for the...
12:43
Yerevan Bus head resigns
Yerevan Bus CJSC Director Hovhannes Manukyan has stepped down. "I've submitted resignation today," he said in a social...
12:23
Police raiding homes of Armenian opposition group members
The Armenian authorities are searching the homes of members and supporters of the opposition group National Democratic Pole as well as its...
11:47
Armenian leadership seeking rupture of ties with Russia, Lavrov says
The Armenian leadership is messing up relations with Moscow for no good reason, TASS quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as...
11:30
Today marks Good Friday
The week leading up to Easter or Holy Resurrection is called Holy Week (in Armenian Avak Shabat). During this period, the Armenian Apostolic...
11:15
Political prisoner Narek Samsonyan addresses open letter-inquiry to U.S. ambassador
Chairman of Civic Consciousness NGO, founder of AntiFake.am media outlet, political prisoner Narek Samsonyan wrote an open letter-inquiry to...
11:00
ARF calls for consolidation to save Armenian statehood
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) Bureau issued the following statement on Thursday: "In recent weeks, Nikol...
17:12
She said yes: Marriage proposal at Hayat Project concert in Gyumri
A young man proposed to his beloved at a Hayat Project concert in Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city. In a video posted online, the...
16:45
Opposition MP slams Pashinyan's Artsakh statements
Opposition Hayastan faction MP Ishkhan Saghatelyan has expressed support to the Artsakh government in exile following Armenian Prime Minister...
16:04
MP Aghvan Vardanyan visits arrested activists
MP Aghvan Vardanyan, who represents the opposition Hayastan faction, on Thursday visited the Armavir Penitentiary where activists Vazgen...
15:36
Armenian opposition MP visits border villages
Opposition MP Tigran Abrahamyan has visited the villages of Voskepar and Baghanis in Tavush Province adjacent to the border areas demanded by...
15:04
Ex-Yerevan mayor setting up new party
Former Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan is setting up a new party in the near future, his team has confirmed to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service....
14:36
Armenia to send 29.94 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza
Armenia will deliver 29.94 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza ravaged by the conflict with Israel. The decision was approved at a cabinet...
14:07
Expert: Pashinyan decided to terrorize Artsakh leaders
Political analyst Suren Surenyants has criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statements on Artsakh leaders at a cabinet meeting on...
13:35
Analyst: The West doesn't care about Armenia
The West wants Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign a peace treaty as soon as possible and Armenia's territorial losses do not matter to it,...
13:06
Moscow concerned over anti-Russian bias of Armenia-EU-US meeting
The Armenia-EU-US meeting scheduled for April 5 is causing Moscow’s concern as Washington and Brussels are openly discussing its...
12:37
Pashinyan: Some circles displaced from Karabakh take actions threatening Armenia's security
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warns that the actions taken by “some circles” forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh)...
12:04
Artsakh dissolution decree was 'the only way' to save people, president says
President Samvel Shahramanyan claims his decree ordering the dissolution of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Republic was the “only...
11:30
Japanese supplement products recalled after two deaths and over 100 people hospitalized
Health supplement products believed to have caused two deaths and sickened more than 100 people have been ordered to be taken off store shelves...
11:15
Today is Holy Thursday
The week leading up to Easter or Holy Resurrection is called Holy Week (in Armenian Avak Shabat). During this period, the Armenian Apostolic...
11:00
Upcoming Armenia-US-EU meeting not directed against any third party – Foreign Ministry
The high-level meeting scheduled for April 5 in Brussels is aimed at strengthening Armenia-EU-US cooperation and is not directed against...
17:00
Azerbaijan's team opts out of Sambo World Cup in Yerevan
Azerbaijan's national team will not participate in the Sambo World Cup to be held in Yerevan, Armenia, Azerbaijani Sambo Federation official...

Follow us and get updates!

Most popular articles

{"core.blocks.header.spell_message1":"Selected mistake: ","core.blocks.header.spell_message2":"Send a message about the mistake?"}