Armenia’s Constitutional Court rules that ICC obligations in line with national constitution

The Armenian Constitutional Court has recognised that the country’s International Criminal Court (ICC) obligations enshrined in the Rome Statute do not contradict the national constitution, News.am reports.

The ruling was read out by the court’s President Arman Dilanyan. It enters into force immediately.

The move means that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Commissioner for children’s rights Maria Lvova-Belova will not be able to enter the country as Armenian authorities will be required to detain them following the ICC’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova.

News.am notes that the Armenian government appealed to the Constitutional Court to ratify the Rome Statute in late 2022 in order to hold Azerbaijan accountable for the crimes committed in unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh.

The country signed the statute back in 1998 but failed to ratify the document after the Constitutional Court ruled in 2004 that several provisions were not in line with the national constitution that was active at the time.

The International Criminal Court headquartered in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against Putin and Lvova-Belova on 17 March. Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation”, the ICC press release reads. Lvova-Belova is suspected of the same crimes.

Hungarian authorities noted that they would not arrest Putin under the ICC order if he sets foot in the country. Hungary signed and ratified the Rome Statute that lays foundations for the ICC but the document “was not built into Hungary’s legal system”, the Hungarian prime minister’s office stressed.