Armenia’s Representative on International Legal Matters, Karen Andreasyan, has announced that the country is not discussing the withdrawal of lawsuits filed against Azerbaijan in international courts.
‘Neither under my predecessor nor during my tenure has any lawsuit been withdrawn, and there is no such discussion’, Andreasyan told reporters on Wednesday.
‘If anything like that happens, you will definitely be informed about it’, he added.
Andreasyan represents Armenia in all judicial proceedings, including interstate cases with Azerbaijan, arbitration proceedings, and cases before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
During his comments to reporters, Andreasyan added that his office had not received any proposal to withdraw from any legal case, and emphasised that future decisions would be communicated publicly.
‘If the Republic of Armenia – whether the Government, the National Assembly, or the Constitutional Court – ever decides to ratify an agreement that provides for the termination of legal proceedings, you will learn about it before I do’, Andreasyan said.
The comment comes in light of Article 15 of the draft peace agreement initialled in August in Washington between Armenia and Azerbaijan. That article states that the parties shall ‘withdraw, dismiss, or otherwise settle any and all interstate claims, complaints, protests, objections, proceedings, and disputes […] in any legal forum within one month from the date of entry into force of this Agreement’. It also includes a clause stating that neither side shall initiate such claims or get involved in new ones against the other.
Nate Ostiller
Despite the draft text containing this clause, Andreasyan affirmed that, as of now, Armenia has not taken any step to withdraw its claims and no such process is underway. Therefore, the status of multiple international legal cases remains active.
Since the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, Armenia has filed four interstate complaints against Azerbaijan in the ECHR. They include violations of the rights of illegally detained and convicted persons in Azerbaijan and the enforced displacement of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan.
In turn, a separate complaint is being considered in the UN’s International Court of Justice.
Even before the signing of the Washington accords, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that if Armenia and Azerbaijan signed the peace deal, there would be no need for international lawsuits.
Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
