Constitution
The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia was adopted on 5 July 1995 through a referendum.
Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia were made
on 27 November 2005 and on 6 December 2015 through referenda.
Constitutional description
The Republic of Armenia is a sovereign, democratic, social state governed by the rule of law.
In the Republic of Armenia, the power belongs to the people.
The people shall exercise their power through free elections,
referenda, as well as through state and local self-government bodies and
officials provided for by the Constitution.
State power shall be exercised in conformity with the Constitution
and the laws, based on the separation and balance of the legislative,
executive and judicial powers.
National Assembly
The National Assembly shall
be the representative body of the people, which shall implement the
legislative power. The National Assembly shall exercise supervision over
the executive power, shall adopt the State Budget and perform other
functions prescribed by the Constitution.
The powers of the National Assembly shall be prescribed by the Constitution.
The National Assembly shall be composed of at least one hundred and
one Deputies. The National Assembly shall be elected through
proportional electoral system. The last parliamentary elections took
place on 9 December 2018.
President of the Republic
The President of the Republic shall
be the head of the State. The President shall observe the compliance
with the Constitution. In the course of exercising his or her powers,
the President of the Republic shall be impartial and shall be guided
exclusively by state-wide and nation-wide interests. The President of
the Republic shall perform his or her functions through the powers
prescribed by the Constitution.
The President of the Republic shall be elected by the National Assembly for a term of seven years.
Government
The Government shall be the supreme body of the executive power.
The Government shall, based on its programme, develop and implement
the domestic and foreign policies of the State, exercise general
management of the bodies of the state administration system.
The powers of the Government shall be prescribed by the Constitution
and laws. All the matters pertaining to the executive power and not
reserved to state administration bodies or other local self-government
bodies shall fall under the competence of the Government.
The Government shall be composed of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers and ministers.
The candidate elected by the parliamentary majority shall be
appointed by the President of the Republic as a Prime Minister. Deputy
Prime Ministers and ministers shall be appointed by the President of the
Republic, upon recommendation of the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister shall, within the framework of the Programme of
the Government, determine the main directions of policy of the
Government, manage the activities of the Government and co-ordinate the
work of the members of the Government.
Courts and the Supreme Judicial Council
In the Republic of Armenia, justice shall be administered only by
courts in compliance with the Constitution and laws. The Constitutional
Court, the Court of Cassation, courts of appeal, courts of first
instance of general jurisdiction, as well as the Administrative Court
shall operate in the Republic of Armenia. Other specialised courts may
be established in the cases provided for by law.
Constitutional justice shall be administered by the Constitutional
Court, ensuring the supremacy of the Constitution. In the Republic of
Armenia the supreme court instance shall be the Court of Cassation,
except for the field of constitutional justice.
The Court of Cassation, by way of revision of judicial acts within
the scope of powers prescribed by law, shall ensure the uniform
application of laws and other regulatory legal acts, as well as
eliminate the fundamental violations of human rights and freedoms.
Independence of courts and judges shall be guaranteed by the Supreme
Judicial Council, which is an independent state body comprised of ten
members. Five members of the Supreme Judicial Council shall be elected
by the General Assembly of Judges, another five members — by the
National Assembly.
Administrative-Territorial Units of the Republic of Armenia
The administrative-territorial units of the Republic of Armenia shall
be the marzes [regions] and the communities. The marzes shall be
comprised of rural and urban communities. The territory of the Republic
of Armenia shall be divided into 10 marzes. They are: Aragatsotn Marz,
Ararat Marz, Armavir Marz, Gegharkunik Marz, Lori Marz, Kotayk Marz,
Shirak Marz, Syunik Marz, Vayots Dzor Marz and Tavush Marz.
Capital Yerevan shall be a community. Local self-governance shall be exercised in communities.
