Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

Position of the RA Constitutional Court

In the frame of Decent Work Now project, HCAV undertook to protect A.M.'s violated labor right. In order to restore the violated labor right, HCAV, represented by advocate Tiruhi Vardanyan, lodged a claim with Lori region General Jurisdiction Court of First Instance. A.M. was dismissed based on reaching the pension age. HCAV has addressed, for many times, the issue that this basis contradicts the RA Constitution, and international treaties ratified by the Republic of Armenia, namely, the Revised European Social Charter. HCAV also raised this issue in the frame of protecting A.M.’s labor right and made a petition to the Court to apply to the RA Constitutional Court. As a result of upholding the petition, the Court applied to the RA Constitutional Court to determine constitutionality of the norm. 

In its procedural decision of 05.09.2023, the Constitutional Court rejected to examine the case of “determining compliance of clause 11 of part 1 of Article 113 of the RA Labor Code with the Constitution”, however, it recorded that “in all cases when it is considered that the norm to be applied contradicts international treaties ratified by the Republic of Armenia, the norms of ratified international treaties shall be applied according to part 3 of Article 3 of the Law on International Treaties. Therefore, the applicant can solve the dispute by directly applying provisions of the international treaty ratified by the RA, which allegedly contradicts the law provision challenged by the applicant”.

Factually, the body administering constitutional justice, i.e., the Constitutional Court, in the frame of determining whether to take or reject examination of the case, made a procedural decision addressing the principle of immediate use of provisions of international treaties, and recorded that in any case, where it is confirmed that the relevant norm contradicts ratified international treaties, the provision enshrined in international treaties is to be applied, and the Court can apply provisions of the international treaty ratified by the RA, which the provision of the challenged law is in contravention with.