The Constitution of The Republic of Armenia on Presidency

Armenia is going deeper into the Presidential election period, and as I don’t have anything to write today, I decided, that it’s just about time to remind everybody what the Armenian Constitution says about the institute of President.
THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
Article 49
The President of the Republic of Armenia shall be the head of the state.
The President of the Republic shall strive to uphold the Constitution and to ensure the regular functioning of the legislative, executive and judicial powers.
The President of the Republic shall be the guarantor of the independence, territorial integrity and security of the Republic of Armenia.
Article 50
The President of the Republic shall be elected by the citizens of the Republic of Armenia for a five year term of office.
Every person having attained the age of thirty five, having been a citizen of the Republic of Armenia for the preceding ten years, having permanently resided in the Republic for the preceding ten years, and having the right to vote is eligible to be elected as President of the Republic.
The same person may not be elected for the post of the President of the Republic for more than two consecutive terms.
Article 51
The election of the President of the Republic shall be held fifty days prior to the expiration of his/her term of office in conformity with the procedure defined by the Constitution and the law.
The candidate who has received more than half of the votes shall be elected President of the Republic.
If the election involves more than two candidates and none of them receives the required number of votes a second round of election shall be held on the fourteenth day following the voting. The two candidates having received the highest number of votes may participate in the second round of election of the President of the Republic. In the second round the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be elected President of the Republic.
If only one candidate runs for the election, he/she shall be elected if he/she receives more than half of the votes of electors participated in the polls.
If the Constitutional Court admits a case on the results of presidential elections, it must render a decision within ten days following the receipt of the application, and the terms defined in this article shall be calculated starting from the moment the court decision comes into force.
If the President of the Republic is not elected, a new election shall be appointed and the voting shall be held on the fortieth day following the date of appointment of the new election.
The President of the Republic shall take office on the day when the term of office of the previous President expires.
The President of the Republic elected by new or extraordinary elections shall take office on the twentieth day following the elections.
Article 52
Should one of the presidential candidates face insurmountable obstacles, the election of the President of the Republic shall be postponed for two weeks. In the event that the obstacles recognized as insurmountable are not eliminated within the aforementioned period of time a new election shall be appointed and the voting shall be held on the fortieth day following the expiration of the two-week’s period.
In case of the death of one of the candidates before the day of voting a new election shall be appointed and the voting shall be held on the fortieth day following the date of appointment of the new election.
Article 53
In the event of the resignation of the President of the Republic, his or her passing, incapacity to perform his or her functions or removal from office in accordance with Article 57 of the Constitution, extraordinary presidential elections shall be held on the fortieth day following the vacancy of the office of the President of the Republic.
Article 53.1
During martial law or state of emergency no elections of the President of the Republic shall be held and the President of the Republic shall continue the discharge of his/her responsibilities. In this case the election of the President of Republic shall be held on the fortieth day following the expiration of the term of the martial law or state of emergency.
Article 54
The President of the Republic shall accept office in conformity with the procedure prescribed by law at the special sitting of the National Assembly by swearing the following oath to the people, “Assuming the office of the President of the Republic of Armenia I swear: to fulfill the requirements of the Constitution in an unreserved manner; to respect the fundamental human and civil rights and freedoms; to ensure the protection, independence, territorial integrity and security of the Republic to the glory of the Republic of Armenia and to the welfare of the people of the Republic of Armenia.
Article 55
The President of the Republic:
1) shall deliver addresses to the people and the National Assembly;
2) shall, within twenty one days of receipt, sign and promulgate, the laws passed by the National Assembly;
Within this period he/she may remand the law passed by the National Assembly to the latter with objections and recommendations requesting for new deliberations. The President shall, within five days, sign and promulgate the law re-adopted by the National Assembly;
3) dissolve the National Assembly in the cases and in conformity with the procedure prescribed by Article 74.1 of the Constitution and declares extraordinary elections;
4) shall, on the basis of the distribution of the seats in the National Assembly and consultations held with the parliamentary factions, appoint as Prime Minister the person enjoying confidence of the majority of the Deputies and if this is impossible the President of the Republic shall appoint as the Prime Minister the person enjoying confidence of the maximum number of the Deputies. The President of the Republic shall appoint the Prime Minister within ten days after acceptance of the resignation of the Government. The Government shall be formed within 20 days after the appointment of the Prime Minister.
The President of the Republic shall appoint to and dismiss from office the members of the Government upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister;
The President of the Republic shall accept the resignation of the Government on the day of the first sitting of the newly elected National Assembly, of the assumption of the office by the President of the Republic, of the expression of the vote of no confidence to the Government, of not giving approval to the program of the Government, of the resignation of the Prime Minister or when the office of the Prime Minister remains vacant. After the acceptance of the resignation of the Government by the President of the Republic the members of the Government shall continue discharging their responsibilities until the formation of the new Government;
5) shall make appointments to state office positions in cases prescribed by the law;
6) shall form and preside over the National Security Council, may establish other advisory bodies;
7) shall represent the Republic of Armenia in international relations, execute the general guidance of the foreign policy, conclude international agreements, forward the international agreements to the National Assembly for ratification and sign their ratification forms, approve, suspend or annul the international agreements for which no ratification is required;
8) shall appoint to and recall from office the diplomatic representatives of the Republic of Armenia in foreign countries and international organizations, accept the letters of credence and recall of the diplomatic representatives in foreign countries and international organizations;
9) shall recommend to the National Assembly the candidacy of the Prosecutor General, the Chairman of the Central Bank and the Chairman of Control Chamber. Shall upon the recommendation of the Prosecutor General appoint and release the deputies of the Prosecutor General;
10) shall appoint 4 members of the Constitutional Court and, if the National Assembly fails to appoint the President of the Constitutional Court in the period prescribed in Article 83 Clause 1 – the President of the Constitutional Court from among the members of the Constitutional Court;
He may, on the basis of a conclusion of the Constitutional Court terminate the powers of any of his/her appointees in the Constitutional Court or give his consent to involve the member as an accused, detain him/her, authorize to institute a court proceeding to subject him/her to administrative liability.
11) upon the recommendation of the Council of Justice:
a) shall appoint the presidents and the judges of the Court of Cassation and its chambers, the appeal, first instance and specialized courts,
b) shall terminate their powers,
c) give agreement to involve them as accused, detain them or initiative administrative proceedings against them through judicial process;
Upon the conclusion of the Council of Justice appoint judges of the appeal, first instance and professional courts.
11.1) shall appoint two legal scholars as members of the Council of Justice
12) shall be the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, coordinate the operations of the government bodies in the area of defense, appoint to and dismiss from office the Highest Command of the armed and paramilitary forces.
13) in the event of an armed attack against the Republic, an imminent danger thereof or declaration of war, shall declare a martial law, may call for a general or partial mobilization and shall decide on the use of the armed forces.
During warfare the President may appoint or dismiss from the office the Highest Commandant.
In case of use of the armed forces or declaration of martial law a special sitting of the National Assembly shall be convened by force of law.
The law shall define the legal regime of martial law.
14) in the event of an imminent danger to the constitutional order, after consulting with the Chairman of the National Assembly and the Prime Minister, shall declare state of emergency and take measures appropriate in the given circumstances and address the people on the situation.
In case of declaration of the state of emergency a special sitting of the National Assembly shall be convened by force of law.
The law shall define the legal regime of the state of emergency.
15) shall, by the procedure defined by law, resolve issues related to granting citizenship of the Republic of Armenia and political asylum;
16) shall award the orders and medals of the Republic of Armenia, promote to highest military ranks and award honorary titles, as well as promote to highest diplomatic and other classification ranks;
17) may grant pardon to convicted persons.
Article 56
The President of the Republic shall issue orders and decrees, which shall not contradict the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Armenia and shall be subject to implementation throughout the territory of the Republic.
Article 56.1
The President of the Republic shall be immune.
The President of the Republic may not be prosecuted or held liable for actions arising from his/her status during and after his/her term of office.
The President of the Republic may be prosecuted for the actions not connected with his or her status after the expiration of his/her term of office.
Article 57
The President may be impeached for state treason or other heavy crimes.
In order to obtain a conclusion on the motion of impeaching the President of the Republic from office, the National Assembly shall appeal to the Constitutional Court by a resolution adopted by the majority of the deputies.
The resolution to remove the President of the Republic from office shall be passed by the National Assembly by a two-thirds majority vote of the total number of deputies, based on the conclusion of the Constitutional Court.
In the event that the Constitutional Court concludes that there are no grounds for impeaching the President of the Republic the motion shall be removed from the agenda of the National Assembly.
Article 58
The President of Republic shall submit his/her resignation to the National Assembly. In case of submitting the resignation for a second time within 2 days following the expiration of a ten-day period, the resignation shall be deemed accepted and an extraordinary election shall be held in conformity with the procedure and terms stipulated in the Constitution.
Article 59
In case of serious illness of the President of Republic or other insurmountable obstacles which enduringly render the discharge of his/her responsibilities impossible, the National Assembly shall upon the recommendation of the Government, the conclusion of the Constitutional Court and with a minimum of two thirds majority vote of the total number of its members adopt a decision on the incapacity by the President of the Republic to discharge his/her responsibilities.
In the event that the Constitutional Court concludes that the grounds for the incapacity of the President of Republic to discharge his/her responsibilities do not exist, the Government may not put such motion forward to the National Assembly.
Article 60
In the event the office of the President of the Republic is vacant and before the newly elected President assumes the office, the presidential duties shall devolve onto the Chairman of the National Assembly or, if that is impossible, onto the Prime Minister. During the performance of the duties of the President of the Republic by the Chairman of the National Assembly, the duties of the Chairman of the National Assembly shall devolve to the deputy of the Chairman of the National Assembly, who was elected to his/her post by most of votes. During this period it is prohibited to call a referendum, appoint the Prime Minister, appoint to and dismiss from office the Highest Command of the armed and paramilitary forces (except a martial law situation), make appointments to police and national security positions in cases prescribed by law, as well as exercise the powers stipulated in Clauses 3, 8, 16 and 17 of Article 55 of the Constitution.
Article 61
The President of the Republic shall in conformity with the procedure defined by the law form his/her staff. The remuneration, servicing and security of the President of the Republic shall be prescribed by the law.

Artur Papyan

Journalist, blogger, digital security and media consultant

2 Comments

  1. I love article 55 sub 8 (or is it 8) ?) especially. 😉

  2. […] since 1991, however, it was only granted to him in 2001 by President Robert Kocharyan. According to Article 50 of the Armenian Constitution, in order to be eligible to run for president the candidates must be […]

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