Today, on 22 August, the Professional Committee on Constitutional Reforms, held a regular sitting chaired by the Chairman Yeghishe Kirakosyan.

In addition to organizational issues, the Committee also discussed the issue of merging the highest courts, in particular the two concepts for the establishment of the Supreme Court, developed by the Ministry of Justice, Legal Scholars of the Committee and the President of an NGO. The general provisions of the Concepts circulated in advance in the commission were presented by the RA Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan, legal scholars Armen Mazmanyan, Levon Gevorgyan, and Arsen Tavadyan and the President of the “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO Karen Zadoyan.

The members of the Committee presented their arguments and counter-arguments on the Concept. Further a vote was held on two issues to decide which one of them to be included in the preliminary version of the Concept submitted for public discussion. The first question, which was supported by seven of the 15 members present at the sitting, referred to the development of the constitutional justice system within the current model, and the second question referred to the decentralization of constitutional control, unification of the highest courts. Eight members of the Committee voted in favor of this approach of the Ministry and legal scholars and the NGO representative.

Summing up the sitting, it was decided to include the concept of creating the Supreme Court in the concept of Constitutional reforms to be submitted for public discussion in the near future.