The [former] President of the Constitutional Court of Armenia Hrayr Tovmasyan and three other judges appealed to the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) in regard to the constitutional changes adopted by the Armenian parliament.

On 8 July, the Strasbourg-based court published the following decision: “The Court decided to reject the request as outside the scope of application of Rule 39 (interim measures) of the Rules of Court, since it did not involve a risk of serious and irreparable harm of a core right under the European Convention on Human Rights.”  Although it was not a full rejection of the request, deputies of the My Step faction of the National Assembly of Armenia were posting on their Facebook pages one after another, stating that the ECHR has rejected the request of the judges of the Constitutional Court.

A day later, Siranuysh Sahakyan, a lawyer representing the ousted judges, downplayed the ECHR’s decision, saying that the Strasbourg court continues to examine the appeal. She said the ECHR has given the plaintiffs and the Armenian government until 28 August to present it with more arguments in support of their positions. "We [hereby] inform the public that the case of the president and judges of the Constitutional Court is currently at the consideration phase. Moreover, the European Court, taking into account the nature of the violations and the importance of the issues raised, has ordered an immediate examination of the case,“ she said.

On 22 June, Armenia's National Assembly adopted a string of amendments to the Constitution, designed to replace some members of the Constitutional Court. According to the new edition of Article 213 of the Constitution, the powers of the current chairman of the Constitutional Court Hrayr Tovmasyan and those judges who have been in office for a total of more than 12 years were terminated. The remaining judges will continue to work until this deadline (Caucasus watch reported).