Armenian law (), that being the modern Legal system of Armenia (), is a system of

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

acted in

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

History of law in Armenia

The modern legal system of Armenia was founded on 21 September 1991 following the

1991 Armenian independence referendum An independence referendum was held in the Armenia SSR on 21 September 1991 to determine whether to secede from the Soviet Union. It followed a declaration of independence on 23 August 1990. 99.5% of voters voted in favour, with a turnout of 95 ...

and by the country's declaration of

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

on 23 September 1991. For the evolution of Armenian law this phase was a turning point in the nation’s historical development, because it marked the beginning of the establishment of an independent, sustainable legal system guaranteeing

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and

freedoms Political freedom (also known as political autonomy or political agency) is a central concept in history and political thought and one of the most important features of democratic societies.Hannah Arendt, "What is Freedom?", ''Between Past and ...

, legitimate interests, and welfare of citizens. The highest legal document of Armenian state and society – the

Constitution of Armenia The Constitution of Armenia was adopted by a nationwide Armenian referendum on July 5, 1995. This constitution established Armenia as a democratic, sovereign, social, and constitutional state. Yerevan is defined as the state's capital. Power i ...

– was approved following the 5 July 1995

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

. The legal system of Armenia shares the patterns and characteristics that describe the legal systems of other civil law countries. The Constitution of Armenia is based on the model of the French Constitution, and several principal aspects of the

Civil Code A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property law, property, family law, family, and law of obligations, obligations. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdiction ...

of Armenia depict the model code of civil law elaborated for the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...

. In previous years, the impact of German administrative legislation on the development of the relevant legal framework of Armenia has been noted. The legal system being built on new ideological and institutional merits continues to bear influence on various practices inherent to the legal procedures of former

Republics of the Soviet Union In the Soviet Union, a Union Republic () or unofficially a Republic of the USSR was a Federated state, constituent federated political entity with a List of forms of government, system of government called a Soviet republic (system of governm ...

. Constitutional justice in Armenia is carried out by the

Constitutional Court of Armenia The Constitutional Court of Armenia () is the highest legal body for constitutional review in Armenia. It is responsible for supervising the constitutionality of laws and other legislative instruments. The law of the constitutional court is de ...

, and by virtue of the article 92 of Constitution and the article 15th of Judicial Code it is the

Court of Cassation of Armenia The Court of Cassation of Armenia () is the highest Supreme court, court of the Judiciary of Armenia, three-level judicial system in Armenia. The court, established in 1998, is located in Yerevan. History The court was founded on 10 July 1998. ...

which is vested in the formation of predictable and consistent jurisprudence. Armenia is a

secular state is an idea pertaining to secularity, whereby a state is or purports to be officially neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion. A secular state claims to treat all its citizens equally regardless of relig ...

, which presupposes regulation of public relationships solely by the state enacted legal acts. However, the

Armenian Apostolic Church The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the Autocephaly, autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christianity, Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic ...

played and continues to play an essential role in the protection of humanitarian values constituting an indivisible part of the moral-physiological foundations of the Armenian legal system. For the aforementioned reason the wording of article 8.1 of the Armenian Constitution states: "The Republic of Armenia recognizes the exclusive historical mission of the Armenian Apostolic Church as a national church, in the spiritual life, development of the national culture and preservation of the national identity of the people of Armenia."

Legal system of Armenia and international cooperation

Armenia participates in several bilateral and multilateral international treaties. International

agreements Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus (disambiguation), a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of ...

become a constitutive part of the Armenian legal system when they are ratified or

adopted Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

by the relevant national authorities. Moreover, the wording of Article 6 of the Constitution indicates: "If a ratified international treaty stipulates norms other than those stipulated in the laws, the norms of the treaty shall prevail. International treaties contradicting Constitution cannot be ratified." Armenia is a member of several international treaties in the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Including the following: *

European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted by the member states of the Council of Europe, meeting at Strasbourg on 26 November 1987. After the European Convention on Human Ri ...

European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the ...

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), or the Genocide Convention, is an International Agreement, international treaty that criminalizes genocide and obligates state parties to pursue the enforcement of ...

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...

Armenia is also a contracting party of the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

and the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

. A comprehensive list of international treaties the Republic of Armenia has acceded/ratified may be found in the following ''Human Rights'', 3rd edition.

The system of law

The system of Armenian law is another component of the legal system. It comprises the structural elements such as norms,

institutes An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ...

, and branches that are classified based on various criteria. Thereby the branches of law are usually classified into public and private law or substantive and procedural. The branches of Armenian Law are divided under the classification criteria of substantive and procedural law:

Substantive law

:Constitutional Law :Civil Law :Criminal Law :Administrative Law :Financial Law :Labor Law :Environmental Law :Land Law :Customs Law :Family Law :Penitentiary Law

Procedural law

:Civil Procedure Law :Criminal Procedure Law :Administrative Procedure Law

The system of legislation

The system of

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred ...

encompasses all the relevant legal acts regulating public and private relations within that legal system. The term "system of legislation" is applied broadly to refer to various legal acts of Armenia and, in a narrow definition, to refer to the laws adopted by the

National Assembly of Armenia The National Assembly of Armenia (, ''Hayastani Hanrapetyut'yan Azgayin zhoghov'' or simply Ազգային ժողով, ԱԺ, ''Azgayin Zhoghov'', ''AZh''), also informally referred to as the Parliament of Armenia (խորհրդարան, ''khor ...

. All acts of the Armenian legal system are available o
arlis
Alphabetically classified laws are available via the web-page of th
National Assembly of Armenia
The laws enacted before 2001 are available in English and Russian translations. The decisions of the Constitutional Court are available o
Constitutional Court of Armenia

Recent developments

On 24 November 2017, Armenia and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

finalized the

Armenia–EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement The Armenia–EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement or CEPA is a partnership agreement between the European Union and Armenia. The agreement advances the bilateral relations between the European Union and Armenia to a new, partners ...

. The agreement advances the bilateral relations between the European Union and Armenia to a new, partnership level and regulates cooperation in political and economic sectors. The agreement is also designed to bring Armenian laws and regulations gradually closer to the EU acquis. The agreement contains provisions to support policy and legal reforms, while strengthening the

rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

and

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

in Armenia. On 5 April 2024, Armenia signed a cooperation agreement with

Eurojust The European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) is an agency of the European Union (EU) dealing with judicial co-operation in criminal matters among agencies of the member states. It is seated in The Hague, Netherlands. Est ...

. On 26 March 2025, Armenia's parliament adopted a bill supporting Armenia's accession to the EU. The bill officially became law and calls on the Armenian government to begin the process of gaining membership of the EU.Armenian parliament adopts law to launch EU membership process
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References

External links

National Assembly of ArmeniaThe Universal Declaration of Human Rights
* ttp://www.cpt.coe.int/en/documents/ecpt.htm European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishmentbr>European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental FreedomsLegislation on the Independence of the Judiciary in ArmeniaArmenia
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