Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

Per the Court’s decision, the state will pay the pensioner the pension unpaid on that basis.

On 22 March 2021, the RA Administrative Court upheld S. E.’s claim by which he demanded from Vanadzor territorial division of the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs social security service to include in his general length of service the period of 01.01.1992 - 01.04.1999 when he was the owner of the land of agricultural significance.

On 23 September 2020, with the support of HCA Vanadzor, S.E. applied to the RA Administrative Court regarding the obstacles to his implementation of the right to pension. HCA Vanadzor advocates Arayik Zalyan and Samson Galstyan undertook the protection of his rights.  

Back in November 2013, disability labor pension was set for S.E.; this pension was paid until November 2019 included. Moreover, the period of 01.01.1992 - 01.04.1999 - when he was the owner of a land of agricultural significance - was included in the general length of service based on the land privatization certificate and the information paper provided by the  territorial division stating that he made his social payments during that period. After the expiry of the disability period, S.E. no longer received the pension.

Then, after reaching 63 years of age, he applied to Vanadzor territorial division of the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs social security service to receive his age labor pension. The condition that he was the owner of a land of agricultural significance was not taken into account in the length of service, as there was a need to enclose to the documents the relevant  receipts and information papers for the period of 01.01.1992 - 01.04.1999. S. E. applied to the Ministry, asking to take the aforementioned condition into account when setting the pension, however, the Ministry’s decision was left unchanged, and for this reason, he filed a claim with the court.

Thus, the administrative body demanded from S.E. to present documents that had already been submitted and approved by the Division in terms of getting disability labor pension. Whereas, according to Article 9 paragraph 1 of the RA Law on the Fundamentals of Administration and Administrative Proceedings, there was no such need. 

Based on this, the Court ruled to uphold S.E.’s claim and obliged Vanadzor territorial division of the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs social security service to adopt an administrative act on including in S.E.’s length of service the time period of 01.01.1992 - 01.04.1999 - when he was the owner of a land of agricultural significance - and pay the unpaid pension of that period. 

Factually, the competent body was circumventing the law and making arbitrary demands by thus violating the citizen’s rights, which were possible to restore only through court.