Armenia 1995 Constitution (reviewed 2015) - Page 4 of 16

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 4. THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Article 88. The Status and Functions of the National Assembly

The National Assembly is the people’s representative body.
The National Assembly shall exercise the legislative power.
The National Assembly shall exercise oversight of the executive power, shall adopt the state budget, and shall perform other functions stipulated by the Constitution.
The powers of the National Assembly shall be stipulated by the Constitution.
The National Assembly shall operate in accordance with its Rules of Procedure.

Article 89. The National Assembly Composition and Election Procedure

The National Assembly shall consist of at least 101 parliamentarians.
In the manner stipulated by the Electoral Code, places shall be assigned in the National Assembly for representatives of national minorities.
The National Assembly shall be elected by a proportional electoral contest. The Electoral Code shall guarantee the formation of a stable parliamentary majority. If no stable parliamentary majority is formed as a result of the election or by building a political coalition, then a second round of the election may be held. In case a second round is held, it shall be allowed to form new alliances. The restrictions, conditions, and procedure of forming a political coalition shall be stipulated by the Electoral Code.

Article 90. Term of Office of the National Assembly

The National Assembly shall be elected for a five-year term.
In case of a regular election, the term of office of the newly-elected National Assembly shall start at the moment of opening the first session of the newly-elected National Assembly, convened on the day on which the term of office of the previous convocation of the National Assembly ends.
If the newly-elected National Assembly is not formed before the end of the term of office of the incumbent National Assembly, then the term of office of the incumbent National Assembly shall end and the term of office of the newly-elected National Assembly shall start at the moment of opening the first session of the newly-elected National Assembly, convened on the second Monday following the formation of the newly-elected National Assembly.
If, for reason of martial law or a state of emergency, the election of the National Assembly has been held in the time period stipulated by Paragraph 2 of Article 91 of the Constitution, then the term of office of the incumbent National Assembly shall end and the term of office of the newly-elected National Assembly shall start at the moment of opening the first session of the National Assembly, convened on the second Monday following the formation of the newly-elected National Assembly.
In case of an extraordinary election, the term of office of the incumbent National Assembly shall end and the term of office of the newly-elected National Assembly shall start at the moment of opening the first session of the National Assembly, convened on the second Monday following the formation of the newly-elected National Assembly.
The formation of the National Assembly shall be confirmed in accordance Electoral Code.

Article 91. Regular Election of the National Assembly

A regular election of the National Assembly shall be held no earlier than 60 and no later than 50 days before the end of the term of office of the National Assembly.
During martial law or a state of emergency, an election of the National Assembly shall not be held. In this case, the regular election of the National Assembly shall be held no earlier than 50 and no later than 65 days after the end of the state of emergency or martial law.

Article 92. Extraordinary Election of the National Assembly

An extraordinary election of the National Assembly shall be held after dissolution of the National Assembly in the cases stipulated by Paragraph 3 of Article 149 or Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 151 of the Constitution.
An extraordinary election of the National Assembly shall be held no earlier than 30 and no later than 45 days after dissolution of the National Assembly.

Article 93. Setting Elections of the National Assembly

Regular and extraordinary elections of the National Assembly shall be set by the President of the Republic.

Article 94. Representation Mandate

A parliamentarian shall represent the whole people, shall not be bound by imperative mandate, and shall be guided by his conscience and beliefs.

Article 95. Incompatibility of the Parliamentarian Mandate

A parliamentarian may not hold office not stemming from his function in other state or local self-government bodies, or any office in commercial organizations, or engage in entrepreneurial activities or perform other paid work, except for scientific, educational, and creative work.

Article 96. The Immunity of a Parliamentarian

During and after the term of his powers, a parliamentarian may not be prosecuted and held liable for the voting or opinions expressed in the framework of parliamentarian activities.
Criminal prosecution of a parliamentarian may be initiated only with the consent of the National Assembly. Without the consent of the National Assembly, a parliamentarian may not be deprived of liberty, unless caught at the time of or immediately after committing a crime. In this case, the deprivation of liberty may not last longer than 72 hours. The Chairman of the National Assembly shall be notified immediately of the parliamentarian’s deprivation of liberty.

Article 97. Remuneration Amount and Other Safeguards of Activities of a Parliamentarian

The remuneration amount and other safeguards of activities of a parliamentarian shall be stipulated by law.

Article 98. Cessation and Termination of Powers of a Parliamentarian

The powers of a parliamentarian shall cease upon the expiration of the term of office of the National Assembly, loss of citizenship of the Republic of Armenia or acquisition of the citizenship of a different state, entry into legal force of a judgment convicting him to imprisonment, entry into legal force of a judgment declaring him as legally incapable, as missing, or as having deceased, or his death or his resignation.
The powers of a parliamentarian shall be terminated in case of the inexcusable absence from at least half of the votes during each calendar semester, as well as in case of a violation of the terms of Article 95 of the Constitution.

Article 99. Regular Sessions of the National Assembly

Regular sessions of the National Assembly shall be convened twice a year—from the third Monday of January to the third Thursday of June, and from the second Monday of September to the third Thursday of December.

Article 100. Extraordinary Sessions and Sittings of the National Assembly

An extraordinary session or sitting of the National Assembly shall be convened by the National Assembly Chairman by the initiative of at least one quarter of the total number of parliamentarians or of the Government.
The extraordinary session or sitting shall be conducted with the agenda and in the time period set by the initiator.

Article 101. Publicity of Sittings of the National Assembly

Sittings of the National Assembly shall be public.
By proposal of at least one fifth of the total number of parliamentarians or of the Government, the National Assembly may take a decision, by majority vote of the total number of parliamentarians, to conduct a closed-door sitting. Voting in a closed-door sitting shall be prohibited.

Article 102. Quorum of National Assembly Sittings

A sitting of the National Assembly shall have quorum if more than half of the total number of parliamentarians have registered at the beginning of the sitting.

Article 103. The Adoption of Laws, National Assembly Decisions, Statements, and Addresses

Laws and National Assembly decisions, statements, and addresses shall, except for cases stipulated by the Constitution, be adopted by majority vote of parliamentarians participating in the voting, if more than half of the total number of parliamentarians participated in the voting.
The Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, the Electoral Code, the Judicial Code, the Law on the Constitutional Court, the Law on Referendum, the Law on Parties, and the Law on the Human Rights Defender shall be constitutional laws and shall be adopted by at least a three-fifths majority vote of the total number of parliamentarians. The legal provisions of a constitutional law shall not exceed its subject scope.
The National Assembly shall adopt decisions in the cases stipulated by the Constitution, as well as on the organization of its activities.
The decisions, statements, and addresses of the National Assembly shall be signed and published by the Chairman of the National Assembly.

Article 104. The National Assembly Chairman and Deputy Chairmen, and the National Assembly Council

The National Assembly shall elect from among its members the Chairman and three Deputy Chairmen of the National Assembly. One of the Deputy Chairmen is elected from among the parliamentarians included in the opposition factions. The Chairman and Deputy Chairmen of the National Assembly shall be elected and recalled by majority vote of the total number of parliamentarians.
The Chairman of the National Assembly shall represent the National Assembly and ensure its normal functioning.
In the National Assembly, the Council of the National Assembly shall be formed, which shall consist of the National Assembly Chairman and Deputy Chairmen, one representative of each faction, and the chairmen of the standing committees. The Council of the National Assembly shall approve the draft agendas of regular sittings and sessions, as well as exercise other powers prescribed by the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly.

Article 105. The Factions of the National Assembly

The factions shall facilitate the formation of the political will of the National Assembly.
The factions shall include parliamentarians only of the same party or the same alliance of parties.

Article 106. The Standing Committees of the National Assembly

For the purposes of preliminary discussion of draft laws and other issues pertaining to the authority of the National Assembly and of presenting opinions thereon to the National Assembly, as well as of conducting parliamentary oversight, the National Assembly shall create standing committees. No more than 12 standing committees may be formed in the National Assembly.
The places in standing committees shall be distributed in proportion with the number of parliamentarians included in the factions. The positions of chairmen of standing committees shall be distributed among factions in proportion with the number of parliamentarians included in the faction.

Article 107. Temporary Committees of the National Assembly

For purposes of discussing certain draft laws, draft National Assembly decisions, draft statements, and draft addresses, as well as matters related to ethics of parliamentarians and of presenting opinions thereon to the National Assembly, temporary committees may be formed by decision of the National Assembly.

Article 108. Inquiry Committees of the National Assembly

By demand of at least one quarter of the total number of parliamentarians, an inquiry committee of the National Assembly shall be formed by virtue of law for the purpose of establishing facts that relate to issues of public interest and are within the powers of the National Assembly and of presenting them to the National Assembly.
In an inquiry committee, the places shall be distributed in proportion with the number of parliamentarians in the factions. The National Assembly shall determine the number of members of an inquiry committee. An inquiry committee shall be chaired by one of the parliamentarians presenting the demand.
By demand of at least one quarter of the members of an inquiry committee, state bodies and local self-government bodies and officials shall be obliged to provide to the committee the necessary information concerning its remit, unless its provision is prohibited by law.
In the fields of defense and security, the powers of an inquiry committee may be performed only by the competent standing committee of the National Assembly, by demand of at least one third of the total number of parliamentarians.
Details of the activities of inquiry committees shall be stipulated by the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly.

Article 109. Legislative Initiative

A parliamentarian, a faction of the National Assembly, and the Government shall have the right of legislative initiative.
The author of the legislative initiative may at any time recall the draft law presented.
If, according to the conclusion of the Government, a draft law significantly reduces revenues of the state budget or increases state expenditures, then the Government may demand such law to be adopted by majority vote of the total number of parliamentarians.
A draft law deemed as urgent by decision of the Government shall be adopted or rejected within a two-month period.
Draft laws for which the Government has the exclusive right of legislative initiative may be put to a vote only with amendments acceptable to the Government.
At least 50,000 citizens who have voting right shall have the right to propose a draft law to the National Assembly on popular initiative.

Article 110. Adoption of the State Budget

The National Assembly shall adopt the state budget upon submission by the Government. The state budget shall include all of the state’s revenues and expenditures in the manner stipulated by law.
The Government shall submit the draft state budget to the National Assembly at least 90 days prior to the start of the fiscal year.
The state budget shall be adopted prior to the start of the fiscal year. If the state budget is not adopted during such time, expenditures shall, until the adoption of the budget, be made in proportions to the previous year’s budget.

Article 111. Oversight of State Budget Execution

The National Assembly shall exercise oversight of state budget execution, as well as over the use of loans and debt received from foreign states and international organizations.
The National Assembly shall, subject to the presence of an opinion issued by the Audit Chamber, deliberate and adopt a decision on the annual report presented by the Government on state budget execution.

Article 112. Oral and Written Questions of Parliamentarians

In one of the sittings convened during the sittings week of the regular session, the Government members shall answer the oral questions of parliamentarians. The National Assembly shall not adopt decisions on the questions of parliamentarians.
Parliamentarians shall have the right to pose written questions to the Government members. The answers to written questions shall not be presented at a sitting of the National Assembly.

Article 113. Interpellations

The factions of the National Assembly shall have the right to address the Government members with written interpellations. The Government members shall respond to the interpellation within no later than 30 days of receiving it.
Responses to interpellations shall be presented at a sitting of the National Assembly. By proposal of a faction, the response to an interpellation shall be deliberated. If the deliberation results in at least one third of the total number of parliamentarians making a proposal to express non-confidence in the Prime Minister, then the provisions of Article 115 of the Constitution shall apply. Based on the result of an interpellation, the National Assembly may propose to the Prime Minister to discuss the question of continued tenure of an individual member of the Government.

Article 114. Deliberations on Urgent Topics

In one of the sittings convened during the sittings week of the regular session, if so demanded by at least one quarter of the total number of parliamentarians, deliberations on urgent topics of public interest may be conducted.

Article 115. Expressing Non-Confidence in the Prime Minister

A draft decision of the National Assembly on expressing non-confidence in the Prime Minister may be presented by at least one third of the total number of parliamentarians, provided that the draft decision concurrently proposes the candidacy of a new Prime Minister.
A draft decision of the National Assembly on expressing non-confidence in the Prime Minister shall be put to the vote no earlier than 48 and no later than 72 hours after it is presented. The decision shall be adopted by majority vote of the total number of parliamentarians, by open vote. If the decision is adopted, the Prime Minister shall be deemed to have submitted his resignation. In this case, the provisions of Paragraph 2-4 of Article 149 of the Constitution shall not be applicable.
Non-confidence in the Prime Minister may be expressed no earlier than a year after his appointment. If the draft decision of the National Assembly on expressing non-confidence in the Prime Minister is not adopted, such a draft may be submitted no earlier than after six months.
During martial law or a state of emergency, a draft decision of the National Assembly on expressing non-confidence in the Prime Minister may not be presented or deliberated.

Article 116. Ratification, Suspension, or Renunciation of International Treaties

The National Assembly shall ratify, suspend, or renounce international treaties that:
1. Concern the fundamental rights and freedoms, as well as obligations of the human being and citizen;
2. Have a political or military nature;
3. Contemplate the membership of the Republic of Armenia in an international organization;
4. Contemplate financial or property obligations for the Republic of Armenia;
5. Imply a change of law or the adoption of a new law in order to be applied, or include norms that contradict a law;
6. Directly contemplate ratification; or
7. Contain matters that are subject to regulation by law.
The National Assembly shall, by proposal of the Government, ratify, suspend, and renounce international treaties by means of adopting a law by majority vote of the total number of parliamentarians.
International treaties contravening the Constitution may not be ratified.

Article 117. Amnesty

By proposal of the Government, the National Assembly may adopt a law on amnesty by majority vote of the total number of parliamentarians.

Article 118. Declaring War and Establishing Peace

By proposal of the Government, the National Assembly may adopt a decision on declaring war or establishing peace by majority vote of the total number of parliamentarians.
If it is impossible to convene a sitting of the National Assembly, the Government shall determine the matter of declaring war.

Article 119. Martial Law

In the event of an armed attack against the Republic of Armenia or imminent threat thereof or declaration of war, the Government shall declare a martial law and deliver an address to the people, and may call for a general or partial mobilization.
In case of declaration of martial law, a special sitting of the National Assembly shall be convened immediately by virtue of law.
The National Assembly may, by majority vote of the total number of parliamentarians, terminate the martial law or cancel the implementation of measures prescribed by the legal regime of martial law.
The legal regime of martial law shall be stipulated by a law adopted by majority vote of the total number of parliamentarians.

Article 120. State of Emergency

In the event of an imminent threat to the constitutional order, the Government shall declare a state of emergency and take measures appropriate in the situation and address the people thereon.
In case of declaration of a state of emergency, a special sitting of the National Assembly shall be convened immediately by virtue of law.
The National Assembly may, by majority vote of the total number of parliamentarians, terminate the state of emergency or cancel the implementation of measures prescribed by the legal regime of a state of emergency.
The legal regime of a state of emergency shall be stipulated by a law adopted by majority vote of the total number of parliamentarians.

Article 121. Administrative-Territorial Units and Division

Marzes and communities shall be the administrative-territorial units of the Republic of Armenia. The administrative-territorial division shall be defined by law upon submission by the Government.

Article 122. Autonomous Bodies

To safeguard the exercise of fundamental rights and freedoms of the human being and citizen, as well as to protect fundamental public interests enshrined in the Constitution, autonomous bodies may be created by a law adopted by majority vote of the total number of parliamentarians.
The members of autonomous bodies shall be appointed by majority vote of the total number of parliamentarians.
Autonomous bodies may by law be authorized to issue sub-legislative normative legal acts.
The powers and independence safeguards of autonomous bodies, the requirements on their members, and the procedure of their activities shall be stipulated by law.