The judge, Artur Atabekian, replaced Karen Andreasian, who resigned on November 18 at the behest of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. The latter said on November 22 that he “asked” Andreasian to step down because he is unhappy with some of the decisions made by courts.
Opposition leaders and some legal experts believe that the “request” constituted illegal interference in the work of the judiciary. They say it also shows that the Supreme Judicial Council (SCJ), which is supposed to guarantee judicial independence, is in fact controlled by Pashinian.
The SJC failed to elect a new chairman in two rounds of voting last Thursday. Five of its seven members vied for the vacant post. Only Atabekian ran in a repeat vote organized on Monday. He was unanimously backed by the six other SJC members.
It is not clear whether the four other candidates withdrew under government pressure. Atabekian on Tuesday refused to answer questions from RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Newspaper reports said last week that Atabekian is Pashinian’s preferred candidate for the job. He is a nephew of a pro-government lawmaker close to the prime minister.
Atabekian, 42, took the bench in 2012 six years before Pashinian came to power. He became the chairman of Armenia’s Bankruptcy Court in 2022 before being appointed to the SJC and promoted to the Court of Cassation, the country’s highest body of criminal and civil justice.
Armenia - Ruben Vartazarian, head of the Supreme Judicial Council, at a news conference in Yerevan, June 20, 2022.
“Whether [Atabekian’s latest appointment] was the result of reasonable consensus or criminal collusion is very hard to tell now because I don’t have insider information,” said Ruben Vartazarian, a former SJC chairman who was indicted and ousted in 2021 after falling out with Pashinian.
In a sarcastic “advice” to Atabekian, Vartazarian said the new SJC chief should swiftly step down if he too receives a resignation “request” from Pashinian.
“I received such a request, exhortation and demand but did not comply,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “As a result, I now have the status of a defendant … after my powers were terminated illegally.”
The SJC is tasked with protecting the courts against outside influence. It has wide-ranging powers, including the right to nominate, sanction and even dismiss judges. During Andreasian’s two-year tenure, the judicial watchdog fired dozens of judges who fell foul of the government.