Armenian Justice Ministry denies allegations of PM placing loyal judges

The Armenian Ministry of Justice has rejected claims in an article by VT Foreign Policy, a fringe media outlet, which alleged that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had “placed judges loyal to him at all levels of the judicial system” ahead of the elections.

In its statement, the ministry emphasised that the Armenian PM has no authority, influence, or involvement in the selection or appointment of judges, Caliber.Az reports via Armenian media.

“The claims in question are disinformation and do not correspond to the constitutional and legal regulations in force in the Republic of Armenia. We emphasise that the Prime Minister of Armenia has no authority, influence, or involvement at any stage of the selection or appointment of judges, and that the process of appointing judges is carried out exclusively in accordance with constitutional and legal provisions,” the ministry said.

The statement also underlined that the procedure for selecting and appointing judges in Armenia is clearly defined by the Constitution and the Constitutional Law on the Judicial Code of the Republic of Armenia. It stressed that the process cannot serve political purposes or be connected to electoral processes, labelling VT Foreign Policy’s claims as unfounded and disinformation.

By Jeyhun Aghazada