The President informs that in 2018 from the date of assuming his position on 9 April until 30 May, 2019, the President of the Republic nominated 5 candidates for a judge of the Constitutional Court to the National Assembly (one of the candidates withdrew his candidacy immediately before submitting it to the National Assembly).
The National Assembly rejected 4 of the candidates nominated by the President of the Republic.
In order to present the candidacies of a judge of the Constitutional Court, on 11 June, 2018. by the order of the President of the Republic NK84-A, an ad hoc advisory working group was formed and the applications were accepted.
As a result of the interviews with the 28 candidates who submitted applications, each member of the group submitted his/her individual opinion in a closed procedure. Summing up those opinions, a list of the following 3 candidates was presented to the President of the Republic: Vahe Grigoryan, Gor Hovhannisyan, Arthur Vagharshyan. The order of inclusion of the candidates in the list was conditioned by the number of relevant positive opinions given to them by the group members.
The President of the Republic nominated the candidates for a judge of the Constitutional Court in the same order from the submitted list.
- Vahe Grigoryanwas nominated on 18 October, 2018 , National Assembly rejected on 23 October, 2018.
- Gor Hovhannisyanwas nominated on March 21, 2019, the National Assembly rejected the on 16 April, 2019 .
- Arthur Vagharshyanwas nominated on 15 May, 2019, the National Assembly rejected the on 29 May, 2019.
- Vahe Grigoryan wasnominated for the second time on 30 May, 2019, the National Assembly elected him a judge of the Constitutional Court on 18 June, 2019.
- Gor Hovhannisyan refused to reconsider his candidacy on 27 July 2020 .
- Arthur Vagharshyan isbeing nominated for the second time.
The President of the Republic signed the letter of nomination of Arthur Vagharshyan.
Thus, the President of the Republic made the nominations for the vacant position of a judge of the Constitutional Court from the candidates proposed by the advisory working group, in the order of their list.
During the meeting with the Committee on Constitutional Reforms, the President of the Republic clearly stated his position on the procedure of nomination and election of candidates for judges of the Constitutional Court.
It would be in line with the logic and spirit of the Constitution, and with the purpose of judicial reform if the Constitution established the authority not to nominate a candidate for a judge of the Constitutional Court, but to appoint a judge directly by the President, the General Assembly of Judges and the Government/National Assembly.
In this case, everyone will be responsible for their choice. The composition of the Constitutional Court will be balanced, the independence of judges will be ensured, as they will be free from the influence of political changes. The constitutional principle of the utmost restraint and counterbalances for democratic governance will work fully and effectively; impartial constitutional justice will be ensured.
