The Armenian Ministry of Justice initiated disciplinary proceedings against the judge, Davit Harutiunian, after he claimed that the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) arbitrarily fires his colleagues at the behest of a single person.
“In my view, more than two dozen judges have been relieved of their duties in various illegal ways,” Harutiunian told reporters in April 2023.
The ministry responded by accusing him of discrediting the Armenian judiciary and appealing to the SJC, which is headed by former Justice Minister Karen Andreasian. The SJC decided to oust him after several hearings held behind the closed doors and mostly in the absence of the judge and his lawyers.
Acting on an appeal lodged by Harutiunian, the Constitutional Court ruled recently that the SJC committed serious procedural violations and must therefore review the July 2023 decision to remove him from the bench. The judicial watchdog defended the legality of that decision in response.
Armenia – Karen Andreasian, head of the Supreme Judicial Council, chairs an SJC hearing in Yerevan, June 29, 2023.
In a written statement to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service sent on Friday, the SJC claimed to have “fulfilled the position presented by the Constitutional Court regarding Davit Harutiunian.” It insisted that the latter had been given a chance to present his counterarguments in writing.
Harutiunian described the SJC’s decision as “trickery.” He said the judicial body should have at least held new hearings on his punishment demanded by the Ministry of Justice. He said Andreasian and other members of the SJC must be held accountable for what he called a defiance of the Constitutional Court.
The ministry was headed until this month by Grigor Minasian, a close friend and business partner of Andreasian. The number of disciplinary proceedings against Armenian judges increased significantly on their watch. Scores of those judges were fired as a result. One of them, Zaruhi Nakhshkarian, was removed from the bench in February 2023 because of openly criticizing the sacking of a colleague married to a vocal critic of the Armenian government.
Armenian opposition members and some legal experts regularly accuse the government of seeking to control courts under the guise of Western-backed “judicial reforms.” The government denies that.