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The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of Armenia, have issued a statement regarding the proposed constitutional amendments which are under consideration at the parliament extraordinary session on 6 February.

As co-rapporteurs Andrej Šircelj and Kimmo Kiljunen said in a statement, the amendments would remove the requirement for the Constitutional Court to check the compliance of draft legislation with the Constitution of Armenia. Among other things, it would also change the procedure of revision of the Constitution itself. It is noted that in addition, a constitutional amendment that seems to aim at ending the terms of several members of the current Constitutional Court with immediate effect has been tabled,” said
Considering the fact that the proposed changes could have long-term repercussions on the functioning of constitutional institutions as well as taking into account some of the questions raised in that respect, the co-rapporteurs call on the Armenian authorities to request as soon as possible, the opinion of the Venice Commission.

“We believe that this opinion, which could be adopted very quickly via an urgent procedure, would be valuable to all stakeholders, including the Armenian electorate if a referendum were to be held,” the statement concluded.