NGOs are concerned about the risk of disproportionate restrictions on the rights of trial participants

On 10 April 2024, the draft laws on Making Amendments and Supplements to the Civic Procedure Code and Administrative Procedure Code of the RA were circulated on the Unified Website for Publication of Legal Acts’ Drafts.

The Law Development and Protection Foundation, in collaboration with the Protection of Rights without Borders NGO, the Democracy Development Foundation, the Transparency International Armenia, and the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor Office published an expert opinion on the draft law pointing out 3 major problematic regulations, analyzing them, and making recommendations.

The organisations state: "We, the undersigned organizations, have studied these draft laws and have come to the conclusion that several amendments are problematic and concerning as they carry a high risk of disproportionately restricting the rights of trial parties."

In the light of the argumentation supporting the expert opinion, the organisations have put forth three recommendations:

1. Exclude the provisions providing for the possibility of judicial sanctions in cases of abuse of rights through filing an unfounded claim, appeals to the Courts of Appeal or Cassation, or engaging in any other procedural misconduct.
2. Clarify or define criteria for assessing the behaviour that constitutes grounds for the application of a judicial sanction restricting the exercise of a right.
3. To revise the RA draft law ‘On Amending the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia’, excluding from it the possibility of applying a judicial sanction to a party for failure to attend a court session.