Wednesday, April 2 2014

 The anti-constitutional points of the law on funded pension system will function till 30 September to avoid legal vacuum, the head of the parliamentary commission for the state and legal issues, David Harutyunyan, told Arminfo correspondent. 

"The decision of the Constitutional Court does not mean that the law will not function. The Constitutional Court adopted a decision to recognize the law null and void in the parts that infringe the citizen's right to manage his own salary.  We should not forget that", - he said. 

When commenting on the word expression in the decision of the CC, according to which the decision of the CC comes into force at the moment of announcement, Harutyunyan said that they mean the decision in general, and legal security is a component of this decision. "The legal acts recognized anti-constitutional will become invalid starting 30 September. Today a decision was adopted that says that anti-constitutional norms will stop functioning starting 30 September. For instance, according to this or that normative act, it was foreseen that the government should implement certain functions, but the CC thinks that the government must not be given such authorities, as it contradicts the Constitution, and the relevant law is needed. However, we still do not have the relevant law. But if these norms stop functioning, we shall have legal unpredictiveness. Stemming from this, the CC has decided that the norms will become invalid on 30 September, so that not have a legal vacuum", - Harutyunyan said. 

He also added that till 30 September the government will either draw out a new law or make alterations to the acting legislation. "Of course, I understand that many people do not like my comments, but such is an objective reality", - he concluded. 

On April 2 the Constitutional Court (CC) of Armenia cancelled the mandatory component of the accumulative pension system. Head of the Constitutional Court of Armenia Gagik Haroutiunyan read out the CC's 64-page verdict on 2 April. The Constitutional Court adopted a decision to recognize the law null and void in the parts that infringe the citizen's right to manage his own salary. The CC has recognized invalid all the disputable articles of the law, as they are interconnected. The CC has announced 30 September the deadline for the Government and the Parliament to bring the law in line with the requirements made. The decision of the CC comes into force at the moment of announcement.  The 4 non-governmental parties: Armenian National Congress, Prosperous Armenia, Heritage and ARFD, appealed to the Constitutional Court with a relevant claim over the issue.