On June 18, RA President Vahagn Khachaturyan signed the law on making amendments to the controversial Mining Code, which was adopted by RA National Assembly on May 25. The President of the Republic of Armenia signed the law without considering the letter-proposal of 44 non-governmental organizations - individuals addressed to him before the signing of the law to form a discussion on the issue to involve a complete opinion of "interested community" involving independent experts with professional and legal knowledge.
The non-governmental organizations were informed about the position of RA President Vahagn Khachaturyan regarding their letter not through a reply letter or during the discussion, but from the press. The article entitled "Vahagn Khachaturyan signed RA Law on Making Amendments to RA Mining Code" posted on the Panorama.am website says. "The RA President's Office informs that President Vahagn Khachaturyan got acquainted with the issues raised in the letter of environmental, human rights NGOs, the RA draft law "On Making Amendments to RA Mining Code" on the grounds of unconstitutionality of the NGOs' request not to sign it in case it is fully adopted by the parliament.
Pursuing the full clarification of the issue, RA President got acquainted with the substantiations of this law submitted by RA Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, the proposals submitted by RA Government after the first reading, the conclusions of RA National Assembly Staff and Analytical Department and RA NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs. The legal and expert departments of the Presidential Administration also presented an analysis of the amendments to the law in question.
As a result of the combination of the above-mentioned conclusions and analyzes, the RA draft law "On Making Amendments and Supplements to RA Mining Code" submitted by RA Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure did not contain any articles that contradicted RA Constitution. According to that, the President of the Republic Vahagn Khachaturyan signed the law on June 18.
At the same time, the President's Office is open to engaging in discussions on issues of public importance at various levels.”
Reminder: the law has been supplemented with Article 55.1, which envisages extension of the soil management right on the basis of invincible force. Among a number of reasons, civil disobedience and various manifestations of protests, as a result of which it was not possible to organize soil management at the mine, will be considered an insurmountable force.
The legal regulations on the extension of the soil management right on the basis of force majeure shall apply to the soil managers who have received the right of soil management before the entry into force of this law, if the force majeure arose during the four years preceding the day this law enters into force.
This legislative amendment is, in fact, an anti-democratic restriction on the constitutional right to hold public meetings, rallies, marches, demonstrations, as well as the right to participate in decision-making provided for in the Aarhus Convention.
June 21, 2022 at 11:48