PRESIDENT CAN'T BE GUARANTOR OF INDEPENDENT JURIDICAL SYSTEM

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According to the acting Constitution and the draft of amendments represented by the parliamentary coalition, chairman of the Justice Council is the President, who appears as the guarantor of the independence of the juridical bodies. In its intermediate report the Venice Committee expressed the opinion that the President's presidency over the Justice Council causes certain complications. In this view the Committee remind of the European Charter on the status of Judge, which stressed the absolute independence of the Justice Council both of the executive and legislative power. We tried to find out the opinion of our citizens regarding this issue. Thus we ask 100 people the following question:

Should the President head the Justice Council?

5% of the surveyed said “yes”, 40% found difficulty in answering. “I do not know”, “Can’t say”, “Have no idea” – these were their answers. 50% of the respondents were categorically against.

“The leader of the republic should deal with foreign and domestic policy and should not intervene in the justice processes not to make the judges completely dependent”, a man of about 40 said.

To remind the Justice Council compiles and submits to the President’s confirmation annual lists of professional propriety and carrier advance of the judges and prosecutors and the appointments are made on the basis of these lists.

Karine Asatryan