NA opposition factions  appeal to  CC, challenging constitutionality  of  law on  nationalization of ENA

ArmInfo.  The NA opposition factions "Armenia" and "I have Honor"  have filed an application to the Constitutional Court, challenging the constitutionality of a law adopted by the authorities regarding the nationalization of  Electric Networks of Armenia CJSC, as reported to the Pastinfo  by Artsvik Minasyan, the secretary of the opposition faction "Armenia".

The publication notes that the ruling faction "Civil Contract" in the  country developed a draft legislative amendment in just two weeks,  allowing the executive branch to take over the management of "ENA".  The presented package of laws was adopted by it during an  extraordinary session of the National Assembly within 24 hours. The  professional community is concerned about the lack of legal and  legitimate instruments for nationalizing property, viewing this as a  process of "taking away business" and an attempt to overthrow the  constitutional order, which is unacceptable in a state governed by  the rule of law. 

The professional community is confident that this political process  will ultimately fail in international courts. They believe that  another verdict will be passed against the Republic of Armenia, and  the financial burden will be shifted to the taxpayers of the Republic  of Armenia. In other words, the citizens will bear the burden of the  illegality of these authorities. Both opposition factions have now   filed an application to the Constitutional Court demanding that the  law adopted by the authorities be recognized as unconstitutional.   They also petitioned for the legislative package to be suspended  until the Constitutional Court makes a decision. As of now, a  decision on accepting the application filed on July 11 has not been  made. There is no information about this on the Constitutional Court  website, and the applicants have not received a response.  However, a  decision is expected in the near future, given the three-day period  established by law.

Artsvik Minasyan, a member of the "Armenia" faction in the Na,  told  Pastinfo in detail that several articles and amendments are being  contested in the statement. The first issue concerns the right of  ownership, particularly,  this amendment invalidates  a license   without a court decision, which means  a licensed company is deprived  of the right to use its property as intended. Additionally, it allows  for a property rights to be restricted by seizing property in ways  not outlined in international treaties and the Constitution. The  second group of violations pertains to the violation of the principle  of non-retroactivity of the law, considered fundamental.  For  instance, an energy system enterprise could  be held liable for  violations that occurred before this law was enacted. 

The third group of issues, according to Minasyan, involves the  violation of the principles of independence and autonomy of  autonomous bodies as outlined in the Constitution. Specifically, the  amendments  ignore the Public Services Regulatory Commission,  which  is as a collegial body. The appointment of a manager can only be made  only by the commission chairman, when is then given  the authority to  make all decisions of the energy system enterprise. This deprives the  owners, the board of directors and the executive director of the  ability to make any decisions. Minasyan also noted  that there are  several formulations that violate the principle of legal certainty in  determining the price. 

Particularly, it is stated that the preemptive right belongs to the  state, whereas in the case of  LLCs and CJSCs, the preemptive right  belongs to the shareholders. Now, this right has been granted to the  state without amending these laws. According to Minasyan, obvious  violations were also revealed in the procedures for adopting laws: no  conclusions were provided and, the public was deprived of the  opportunity to participate in making this decision through hearings.  In other words, the participation process was violated. However,  according to Artsvik Minasyan, the biggest threat is a possible  crisis in the energy system, which is guaranteed by these amendments.

"If these amendments are implemented, the energy system will  collapse," Minasyan noted. The deputy also reported that a request  has been submitted to the Constitutional Court to suspend the  amendments to the laws if the appeal is accepted for proceedings  before a decision on the merits is made, as this could have extremely  irreversible consequences for the system. Additionally, a request  will be submitted to consider the case orally, as the issue has a  significant public resonance and impacts crucial societal and state  matters, including security. "Although we don't have high  hopes for  the current composition of the Constitutional Court, this is  important for the international community," the parliamentarian  noted.