Thursday, 18 March 2021
Statement by the Office of the Prime Minister on RA Administrative Court’s decision to comply with the claim filed under Administrative Case No. VD / 2014/05/21
Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia Onik Gasparyan was relieved of his post on March 10, 2021, on the basis of a constitutional norm, based on a presidential decree that has entered into force by virtue of the law.
Onik Gasparyan first filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court of the Republic of Armenia with a request to invalidate the President’s decree, which was approved on March 10, 2021 with the statement on relieving Onik Gasparyan from the post of Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and with a request to consider the same decree null and void.
On 15.03.2021, the RA Administrative Court sent back the claim, suggesting that the incorrect claim should be substituted with a duly formulated one (the decision to return the claim was probably handed to the Plaintiff in person with a sufficient advance notice, since the plaintiff filed the amended claim on the same day, while the same decision was not handed to the Respondent in person).
On the same day, a replacement lawsuit was filed, Onik Gasparyan’s lawsuit versus RA President Armen Sarkissian, demanding that the Prime Minister’s petition be recognized as void of legal relationship concerning the dismissal by virtue of the law of Chief of the General Staff Onik Gasparyan based on the Prime Minister’s proposal and the President’s failure to adopt an administrative act. The lawsuit was accepted for proceedings, and a motion to secure the claim was filed.
On March 17, 2021, the Court granted the motion to secure the claim, and decided to take measures to secure the claim in the form of temporary compliance with the Plaintiff’s claim, i.e. to recognize the Prime Minister’s petition as void of legal relationship concerning the dismissal by virtue of the law of Chief of the General Staff Onik Gasparyan based on the Prime Minister’s proposal and the President’s failure to adopt an administrative act.
It should be noted that Article 139, Part 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia stipulates that the relevant act, in this case, the decree of the President of the Republic of Armenia, shall remain in force by virtue of the law. The Constitution did not envisage the possibility of reversing the administrative act that has come into force under the aforementioned constitutional norm. Therefore, Onik Gasparyan is relieved of the post of Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and the process of appointing a new chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces will continue in line with the procedure established by Article 139, Part 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia.
