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Violent force took over legal thought in Armenia, human rights activist Avetik Ishkhanyan said during a peaceful rally in support of the Constitutional Court of Armenia on Friday, decrying the government-backed constitutional amendments passed by the parliament on Monday.

The constitutional changes strongly opposed by the opposition forces call for the immediate replacement of the chairman and three out of nine judges of Armenia’s top court.

He said “might makes right” expression can be used to best describe the developments around the court.

“Violent force took over legal thought. Unfortunately, In Armenia lawyers, members of the Constitutional Court, certain judges and advocates – rather than the political forces – stood up against the violent political force,” he stressed.

The human rights activist expressed regrets that the political forces proclaiming the ideas of "democracy, liberalism and rule of law" left the lawyers and judges alone in their fight.

“And what could the members of the Constitutional Court and lawyers do, relying only on the laws and rights, in their struggle against the political force holding the majority which has control over all the law enforcement agencies, investigative bodies and the National Security Services?” he said.

Ishkhanyan stated the Constitutional Court fought as much as it could without receiving serious support.

"We are heading towards the destruction of state structures, which will push the state to the brink,” he stressed.

To the observation of Constitutional Court judge Vahe Grigoryan that the amendments will help resolve the crisis in the court, Ishkhanyan refrained from any comments.

“Vahe Grigoryan has a legal education, but he is not a lawyer, he is a politician who submissively obeys the leader embodying dictatorship tendencies. What he said should not be taken seriously,” Ishkhanyan concluded.