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.

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