Many decision aimed at forming artificial agenda - lawyer 

ArmInfo.The decision of the Constitutional Court of Armenia, which declared the previously adopted list of illnesses barring judicial appointments to be  contrary to and invalid under Articles 49 and 75 of the RA  Constitution, could hinder the effective administration of justice.  Lawyer Ruben Melikyan stated this in an interview with an ArmInfo  correspondent, referring to the Constitutional Court's previously  published ruling in response to a statement by the Ombudsman of  Armenia, Anahit Manasyan.

Specifically, the ruling applied to individuals with permanent total  deafness in both ears or blindness in both eyes. Melikyan noted that  he is currently only familiar with the final part of the ruling.  However, commenting on the overall controversy surrounding this  issue, he emphasized that the ability of judges to objectively  evaluate video recordings presented by both the defense and the  prosecution is becoming especially important today. In this vein,  Melikyan shared a case from his own practice.

"In one such case, the prosecutor insisted that the video footage  presented showed my client kicking a car, but I didn't see it. And  essentially, the outcome of the case depended on what the judge saw,"  the human rights activist said.

In this regard, he wondered what to do if a similar case were heard  by a judge who was blind in both eyes.  In other words, as Melikyan  emphasized, it's difficult to imagine how anyone could effectively  administer justice in such a situation. "For example, from a criminal  justice perspective, the judge's direct perception of the evidence  presented is important. And there are cases where this perception  cannot be achieved by any other means than vision. Of course, we  cannot ignore the fact that today, in the age of technological  advancement, such people have greater opportunities. But from this  perspective, tomorrow we can fight for the rights of blind drivers  and also present it as a fight against discrimination," the lawyer  lamented.

Melikyan, however, agreed that exceptions are possible in some cases,  recalling that when he was Artsakh Ombudsman, his deputy at the time  was Artak Beglaryan (now the head of the Artsakh Union NGO, who is  blind in both eyes - ed.). Furthermore, he said that as a student, he  had two students who were blind in both eyes but who demonstrated  good results. However, he emphasized that in this case, there are  certain criteria, and not everyone can become a judge. "If we're  talking about deafness in both ears, then we must also understand  that a judge must not only understand the essence of the case but  also pay attention to intonation, which is very important for  developing correct perception. Text can be read, but if we're dealing  with live speech, the inability to perceive a person's intonation can  lead to many problems in the administration of justice," Melikyan  explained.

In light of the above, touching on the possible motives behind such a  decision, the lawyer noted that its timing during the pre-election  period is no coincidence. "It's important to understand that the  Armenian Ombudsman is widely associated with the ruling Civil  Contract party, and perhaps they are simply trying to reap additional  benefits from the segment of the population that suffers from certain  hearing or vision impairments," the human rights activist concluded.

As a reminder, several articles of the Constitution regarding the  complete ban on appointing individuals with complete deafness or  blindness as judges were declared invalid. The Constitutional Court  decided to consider the case based on a petition filed by Armenian  Ombudsman Anahit Manasyan, in which she challenged restrictions  related to physical disabilities and illnesses that prevent  appointment to judicial office. In particular, the discussion focused  on the list of physical defects and illnesses adopted by the Armenian  government on May 30, 2019, which make it impossible for people who  are deaf in both ears or blind in both eyes to be appointed to the  position of judge.