YEREVAN, June 19. /ARKA/. The Constitutional Court of Armenia on Friday has recognized the bill amending the Criminal Procedure Code and the Banking Secrecy Law as not compliant with the Constitution, the press service of the Constitutional Court reported on Thursday.
On January 22, 2020, the National Assembly of Armenia approved amendments to the laws on criminal procedure and on banking secrecy, which proposed the removal of restrictions on bank secrecy. In particular, previously it was possible to disclose bank secrecy only with respect to suspects and accused, while the amendments proposed to remove these restrictions.
Specific mechanisms of guarantees and restrictions are provided. In particular, the requirements for the motions submitted [on access to information – ed.] have been strengthened, and a guarantee has been established in the form of a mechanism for prosecutorial supervision, up to the point that such motions must be approved by the prosecutor general or his deputy.
The president of Armenia, upon signing, had suspicions regarding these changes, and on February 6, he appealed to the Constitutional Court on this issue.
After consideration, the Constitutional Court passed a verdict recognizing that paragraph 2 of part 1 of the bill approved by parliament on amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure did not comply with part 1 of article 61 (right to judicial protection and the right to appeal to international defense bodies human rights), as well as articles 75 (Organizational mechanisms and procedures for the implementation of fundamental rights and freedoms), 78 (Principle of proportionality) and 79 (Principle of certainty) of the Constitution of Armenia.
In addition, the Constitutional Court recognized that the bill on amendments to the law on bank secrecy, approved by the National Assembly, does not comply with part 1 of article 61, as well as articles 75, 78 and 79 of the Armenian Constitution. -0-
