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  • Lawyers plan two-day strike in protest against Court of Cassation's

    Lawyers plan two-day strike in protest against Court of Cassation's
    `arbitrariness'

    Human rights | 07.06.13 | 10:08
    Photolure

    By Gohar Abrahamyan
    ArmeniaNow reporter


    More than 150 lawyers in Armenia plan two days of strikes in the
    coming week to draw the attention of all branches of power as well as
    civil society to what they describe as `unacceptable behavior' of the
    Court of Cassation.

    The lawyers say the reason for their protests is that in accepting or
    not accepting a case for review the Court of Cassation does not
    provide explanations for its decisions.

    During the strikes planned on June 10 and 11 lawyers will not
    participate in court hearings and other judicial procedures.

    `Double standards continue to be applied in the court system -
    judicial acts issued by different judicial instances are often in
    conflict with each other, and cassation complaints filed against them
    are routinely returned without any reason provided or with a
    meaningless template explanation. As a result, judicial acts
    contradicting each other are issued on cases with similar evidential
    circumstances, which undermines the principle of legal certainty that
    underlies a rule-of-law state,' a group of 46 lawyers said in a
    statement.

    Lawyers began their protests over the matter still in 2011 when about
    200 of them organized a protest near the Court of Cassation. The
    occasion for that protest was the termination of the powers of one of
    the judges following a Court of Cassation request. At that time, the
    lawyers said that justice in Armenia was distorted and that in making
    decisions judges were constrained by the Court of Cassation.

    In 2012, more than a hundred lawyers did not work on June 11, thus
    expressing their protest against the `double standards' and
    `arbitrariness' of the Court of Cassation, but they say no positive
    changes followed after last year's action.

    Member of the Chamber of Advocates Samvel Jaghinyan said at a press
    conference on Thursday that failure to record court sessions is also a
    major problem in the system.

    `Searches, operative-investigative court sessions are not recorded
    deliberately. I have raised this issue for about a year, but no
    solution has been provided,' said the lawyer.

    Another Chamber of Advocates member, Hayk Alumyan, described the
    situation in Armenia's judicial system as perplexing, as the Court of
    Cassation can make decisions that contradict previous ones.

    `The problem is also of concern to our clients because they do not
    understand why the Court of Cassation leaves their complaints
    unanswered and without review while the European Court of Human Rights
    does accepts them and rules in favor of the complainant,' said
    Aloumyan.

    Meanwhile, according to chief of the Judicial Department's
    International and Public Relations Division Arsen Babayan, by going on
    strike lawyers won't help solve their clients' problems.

    `There is a possibility for appeal and if Armenian judicial instances
    do not solve the problem, they can turn to the European Court of Human
    Rights. In this case the lawyers' strike is the same as doctors going
    on strike when there are patients who need treatment,' said Babayan.

    Jurist Ara Ghazaryan thinks that lawyers had better concentrate on
    their cases at lower courts.

    `Applying to the Court of Cassation should be an option for lawyers,
    but this is a special court. Meanwhile, lawyers should primarily
    concentrate on their cases at the first-instance court or at appeals
    courts without letting the matter reach the Court of Cassation,' he
    explained.

    http://armenianow.com/society/human_rights/46696/armenia_lawyers_strike_courts



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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