Based in The Hague, the ICC is the first permanent international tribunal tasked with prosecuting war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and military aggression. Armenia was among 120 countries that signed its founding treaty, the Rome Statute, in 1998.
The Armenian parliament has still not ratified it, however. In 2004, the Constitutional Court ruled that the treaty runs counter to several provisions of the Armenian constitution which guarantee national sovereignty over judicial affairs.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government decided last December to ask the court to again look into the Rome Statute and determine its conformity with the constitution. Justice Minister Grigor Minasian argued that the constitution has been twice amended since 2004.
Minasian indicated at the time that Yerevan intends to appeal to the ICC over Azerbaijan’s military attacks on Armenian territory launched since May 2021
The Constitutional Court ruled that the Rome Statute conforms to the amended constitution. It said, among other things, that the two documents pursue identical goals enshrined in “universal values.”
The ruling came one week after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over war crimes allegedly committed by Russia in Ukraine.
Ara Zakarian, an Armenian expert on international law, said a possible ratification of the ICC treaty would obligate the Armenian authorities to arrest Putin and extradite him to The Hague tribunal if he visits the South Caucasus country.
“If they promptly send the treaty to the National Assembly [for ratification] then it will mean that [the ruling] was agreed [with Pashinian’s government,]” Zakarian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “But in my view, the [ratification] process will be halted.”
Most of the current Constitutional Court judges have been installed by Pashinian’s political team.
Armenian law gives the government up to three months to request parliamentary ratification in such cases. Neither the government nor the ruling Civil Contract party commented on its next move.
By contrast, Russia was quick to react to the Armenian court ruling. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was reported to say that Moscow will discuss its implications with Yerevan.
Earlier this week, a Russian law-enforcement agency opened a criminal case against an ICC prosecutor and judges who issued the “illegal” arrest warrant.
Russia has long been Armenia’s main ally and trading partner. Relations between the two countries have soured in recent months because of what the Armenian government sees as a lack of Russian support in the conflict with Azerbaijan.