Nikol Pashinyan’s actions amount to illegal interference in the canonical life of the Church – constitutional expert

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today presented a roadmap for the “renovation” of the Armenian Apostolic Church, to be implemented if he succeeds in removing Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II.

In an interview with Aysor.am, constitutional expert Gohar Meloyan stated that such interference in the Church’s canonical life not only falls outside the prime minister’s constitutional powers, but also contradicts his position and status.

“The Constitution establishes the principle of legality, which obliges officials, state bodies, and local self-government bodies to act only within the powers granted to them by the Constitution or by law,” she said.

According to Meloyan, the Church-state relations law clearly prohibits state interference in the internal life of the Church, making Pashinyan’s statements and initiatives legally impermissible.

“Any process, comment, or intervention made by Nikol Pashinyan or other officials is illegal and unconstitutional. In a normal legal state, all of this would have consequences,” she noted.

“These are all criminal acts under the Criminal Code, and they are not the first. We saw how Nikol Pashinyan interfered in judicial processes by physically blocking the courts. We saw how the National Assembly was blocked at his call and with his direct participation. None of these actions resulted in any legal consequences for the prime minister. This is the crisis we are facing - the law provides for consequences, but they never reach him,” Meloyan said.