Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

The HCA Vanadzor office submitted an information request to the RA Judicial Department for the list of judges appointed between 2016 and 2022 and copies of the oath texts signed by the judges appointed during the same period.

Based on the information provided, 125 judges were appointed during the specified period. However, the oath texts are missing from the personal files of 32 of these judges. Out of the appointed judges, 9 were appointed in 2018, 1 in 2019, and 22 in 2021.

Article 118 of the RA Judicial Code of the Constitutional Law states the following: “1. A person who is appointed to the position of judge must take an oath before the President of the Republic within one month of the appointment. If appointed by force of law, the oath must be taken at the session of the Supreme Judicial Council. 2. The oath-taking process is conducted under solemn conditions with public access. Each judge should individually read the text of the oath and then sign it. 3. Once the oath text is signed, the person officially assumes the position of a judge (...)”.

The oath text is as follows: "Having assumed the high position of a judge, I swear before the people of the Republic of Armenia to fulfill the duties of a judge in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Armenia, ensuring the rule of law and maintaining the authority of the judiciary."

The absence of signed oath texts from the appointed judges gives rise to suspicion that the provisions outlined in the Constitutional Law on Judicial Code, specifically the appointment procedure for judges, have not been followed in at least 32 cases. As a result, these 32 individuals, who have been appointed as judges,  are administering "justice" in violation of the Constitutional Law by bypassing the mandatory oath procedure.

It is necessary to emphasize the constitutional significance of the judge's oath, through which the judge assumes the constitutional duty to act in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Armenia, ensuring the rule of law and maintaining the authority of the judiciary.

Therefore, the absence of copies of oath texts can cause serious consequences in the administration of justice in Armenia and undermine the entire judicial system.

The problem recorded in this announcement should become an urgent subject of study in the Supreme Judicial Council of the Republic of Armenia to find out whether emergency courts have been established throughout the territory of the Republic of Armenia, where judges are appointed without the mandatory oath ceremony, or whether we are dealing with another fact of inappropriate documentation.

At the same time, we believe that the Supreme Judicial Council should check whether judges appointed for other terms have assumed the position of judge in accordance with the requirements of the constitutional law.