The Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council Ruben Vardazaryan today, on 29 December, gave a the final press conference of the year.

It should be reminded that on 15 November, the Chairman of the SJC made a statement and appealed to the judges , where he mentioned ․ “Today, perhaps the objective and final reply will be given to the shameful and embarrassing question for the judges ‘whether we are judges whining under the walls or are we honest professionals loyal to the Motherland’, that has been shaking the whole society for almost two years.”

This was described as a political statement. Iravaban.net  asked him which of his powers he exercised in his appeal, taking into account that Article 175 of the Constitution defines the powers of the SJC, and Article 84 of the Judicial Code, provides for the powers of the SCJ Chairman. It should be noted that there are comments that appealing to judges with such an appeal is beyond the powers of the SJC Chairman.

“I will not comment, I will not comment in any way. On 15 November I made a call, I appealed to my colleagues, for that no special constitutional authority is needed and also a special authority according to the Judicial Code, if we show a formalistic, legal approach, the President of the Supreme Judicial Council has no authority to appeal, but I really think I used the right words at the right time, addressing my colleagues to stay apolitical, not to give in to the temptation to make political decisions.

Let us add that today, before answering the journalists’ questions, Vardazaryan mentioned that he is appealing again, this time to lawyers, experienced attorneys, prosecutors, investigators: “No matter how far it seems from the distance that the judiciary is unstable, I insist that the judiciary is quite stable, our community, the community of judges, is not as bad as the ratings that some media outlets or some social media give.”