The judges came under strong government pressure to resign in 2019, with Pashinian accusing them of maintaining close ties to Armenia’s former government and impeding his “judicial reforms.” They did not bow to the pressure, leading Pashinian’s administration to enact controversial constitutional amendments a year later.
The amendments extended a 12-year term limit to all nine members of the Constitutional Court, thereby mandating the immediate dismissal of three court justices who had taken the bench in the 1990s. They also required Hrayr Tovmasian to quit as court chairman while allowing him to remain a judge.
Tovmasian and the three ousted judges -- Alvina Gyulumian, Felix Tokhian and Hrant Nazarian -- said the amendments are null and void because they were not sent to the Constitutional Court for examination prior to their passage. The Armenian opposition also accused Pashinian’s political team of violating this legal requirement.
Tovmasian, Gyulumian, Tokhian and Nazarian went on to appeal to the ECHR, saying that they were forced out in violation of several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. One of those articles guarantees their “access to court.”
In its long-awaited ruling made public on Thursday, the Strasbourg-based court refused to invalidate or challenge in any away their ouster, saying that it resulted from the constitutional changes “not directed against them specifically.” It claimed to have found no “evidence of the authorities singling out any of the applicants with negative remarks about their professional performance, personality or moral values.”
Pashinian and his political allies never made secret of the fact that the amendments are designed to help them get rid of Constitutional Court members installed during former Presidents Serzh Sarkisian’s and Robert Kocharian’s rule. The prime minister stated in 2019 that they must resign because they do not “represent the people.”
The ECHR ruling also cited statements on the issue made by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe in 2020. While largely backing the constitutional amendments, the commission criticized the Pashinian administration’s refusal to introduce a transitional period that would “allow for a gradual change in the composition of the court in order to avoid any abrupt and immediate change endangering the independence of this institution.”
Tovmasian and his sacked colleagues did not immediately react to the ruling. Siranush Sahakian, a lawyer representing them, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that she is now examining the text and will comment later.
As a result of the 2020 amendments, two more Constitutional Court members resigned in the following years. The vast majority of the court’s current judges have been handpicked by Armenia’s current political leadership and confirmed by the parliament loyal to it.
The Pashinian government has also installed virtually all members of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), a powerful body overseeing Armenian courts. The judicial watchdog is now headed by Karen Andreasian, Pashinian’s former justice minister who was affiliated with the ruling Civil Contract party until September 2022.
Over the past year, the SJC has fired a number of respected judges and launched disciplinary proceedings against others, stoking opposition allegations that Pashinian is seeking to further curb judicial independence in Armenia under the guise of Western-backed “judicial reforms.” Opposition leaders have accused the West of turning a blind eye to this for geopolitical reasons.