Article 1. Subject of the Regulation of the Law

1. This law shall regulate the legal, social and other guarantees for the implementation of the activities of a Deputy of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia (hereinafter Deputy), as well as other relations regarding the guarantees of the activities of a Deputy.

2. The guarantees for the activities of a Deputy shall be established by the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, by the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Armenia “Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly,” by this Law and other laws.

Article 2. Incompatibilities of the Deputy Mandate

1. In accordance with Article 95 of the Constitution, a Deputy shall not hold an office in other state bodies or local self-government bodies if not conditioned by his status, shall not hold any office in commercial organizations, shall not be engaged in entrepreneurial activity, perform other paid work, except for scientific, educational and creative work.

2. A Deputy, within a month after receiving a Deputy mandate, shall be obliged:

1) to come out from the state registration of an individual entrepreneur;

2) to be relieved of the office held in commercial organizations;

3) to leave the commercial organizations or shall completely entrust its share in their statutory capital to trust management;

4) to refuse trust management of another's property in a commercial organization;

5) to be released from offices held in state bodies or local self-government bodies, with the exception of the offices specified in part 5 of this Article;

6) to be dismissed from work on a paid basis, with the exception of scientific, pedagogical or creative work.

3 If the agreement of the trust management of the Deputy's share in the statutory capital of a commercial organization is not terminated on the basis of the abolition of this organization or declaring it bankrupt, then the Deputy shall be obliged to leave the commercial organization or completely entrust its share in its statutory capital to trust management within a month after the termination of the agreement of the trust management.

4. The time limit established by part 2 of this Article shall be suspended from the date of the adoption for proceedings in the Constitutional Court of the case on protesting the decisions, adopted by the results of elections to the National Assembly until the day of the adoption of the final decision of the Constitutional Court regarding that case.

5. Offices conditioned by the status of a Deputy are the offices of the Chairperson of the National Assembly and his deputies, chairs of committees and their deputies, heads and secretaries of factions, as well as other offices related to the implementation of the powers or functions of the National Assembly or its bodies.

6. In the context of this Law, entrepreneurial activity, as well as scientific, pedagogical or creative work, is the corresponding activity or work established by Article 24 of the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Public Service.”

7. The remuneration of a Deputy for scientific, pedagogical or creative work may not exceed a reasonable amount, that is, the amount that a person who has similar qualities for such activities, but who is not a Deputy, can claim.

8. The obligations of a Deputy, related to the implementation of a deputy powers, prevail over the scientific, pedagogical, creative work carried out by him/her or towards other labor activity not prohibited by law.

9. In order to ensure the normal functioning of the National Assembly, a Deputy shall inform the Chairperson of the National Assembly and the chair of the committee of which he is a member, about the scientific, pedagogical and creative work he is carrying out concurrently.

Article 3. The Rules of Parliamentary Ethics

1. The requirements of this Article shall refer both and to the performance of the powers of a Deputy and to his daily behavior.

2. The rules of parliamentary ethics are:

1) to respect the law and obey the law;

2) to respect for the moral standards of society;

3) to keep the procedure for holding sittings of the National Assembly, its committees and parliamentary hearings; 

4) while performing his/her powers, to not be led by his/her or his/her affiliated persons’ private interests;

5) to not use the authority of the Deputy's office in his/her own interests or the interests of another person;

6) to contribute, by their activities, the formation of trust and respect towards the National Assembly;

7) to demonstrate a behavior worthy of a Deputy everywhere and during any activity;

8) to manifest a respectful attitude towards political opponents, participants of the debate of issues in the National Assembly, journalists, as well as towards all persons with who a Deputy communicates during the implementation of his/her powers.

Article 4. Conflict of Interests of a Deputy

1. A Deputy guided by his personal interests or the interests of his affiliated person means taking the floor with a legislative initiative, submitting a draft resolution, statement or address of the National Assembly, submitting proposals regarding an issue put into circulation in the National Assembly, as well as taking the floor at a sitting of the National Assembly or its committees, asking questions or participating in voting, which, although are legal in themselves, but the Deputy knows or is obliged to know that it leads or contributes, or reasonably may lead or contribute also:

1) to the improvement of his/her property or legal status and the property or legal status of his/her affiliated person;

2) to the improvement of the property or legal status of a non-profit organization, of which the Deputy or his affiliated person is a member;

3) to the improvement of the property or legal status of a commercial organization with the participation of a Deputy or his affiliated person;

4) to the appointment to the office of his affiliated person;

5) to his election or appointment to an office, with the exception of the offices specified in paragraph 5 of Article 2 of this Law, as well as his speech as a candidate for an office elected by the National Assembly.

2. In the context of this Law, affiliates of a Deputy shall be considered the affiliated persons to a high ranked official in accordance with paragraph 16 of part 1 of Article 5 of the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Public Service.”

3. In the case of a conflict of interests, a Deputy shall be obliged, prior the speech or voting at a sitting of the National Assembly or the committee of which he is a member, to take the floor with a statement regarding the conflict of interests, and when taking the floor with a legislative initiative, submitting a draft resolution, statement, address of the National Assembly, submitting a proposal regarding the issue that is put into circulation in the National Assembly, then with the relevant documents shall submit his/her written statement regarding the conflict of interests with a description of the nature of interests.

4. If a Deputy takes the floor with a statement regarding the conflict of interests at a sitting of the National Assembly or the committee of which he/she is a member, then his/her absence from voting on the issue shall be considered respectful.

5. When interpreting the provisions established by part 1 of this Article, it shall be deemed that a Deputy shall not be guided by his/her personal interests or the personal interests of an affiliated person if he acts on behalf of a committee or a faction of the National Assembly, or certain action:

 1)  refers to the activities of state or local self-government bodies, non-profit state or municipal organizations, institutions or their officials;

2) has a universal application and affects wide layers of society in such a way that, with a reasonable approach, it cannot be interpreted as a Deputy's leadership of his/her personal interests or the personal interests of an affiliated person;

3) refers the amount of remuneration, compensation for expenses related to the activity, benefits or other guarantees of a Deputy's activity.

Article 5. Labor Activity of a Deputy

1. The seat of a Deputy shall be the residence of the National Assembly.

2. The main working time of a Deputy shall include the time period necessary for holding sittings and parliamentary hearings of the National Assembly, its factions, committees, working groups, as well as the time period necessary for the implementation of other powers of a Deputy. The main working time of a Deputy shall not be standardized.

3. The amount of a Deputy's salary shall be established by law.

4. The salary of a Deputy for days of disrespectful absence from sittings of the National Assembly, as well as sittings of the committee or parliamentary hearings convened by it, shall not be paid. The Staff of the National Assembly shall record the absentees of Deputies.

5. Reimbursement of travel expenses to a Deputy who is on a business trip by order of the Chairperson of the National Assembly shall be covered by the procedure prescribed by law.

6. The term of parliamentary powers shall be counted as the length of service in public service. The length of service of a Deputy shall not be interrupted if he transfers to another job within three months after the end of his powers.

7. For the duration his/her powers, a Deputy shall be provided a deputy certificate, a diplomatic passport and the “Deputy of the National Assembly” badge.

Article 6. Requests of a Deputy and the Right of Reception

1. The Deputy shall have the right to address with inquiries and proposals to the bodies of the state government system, local self-government bodies and their officials.

2. The authorized officials shall be obliged to:

1) within three weeks, to consider a written request or a written proposal of a Deputy and respond to him in a written form;

2) in case of organizing the debate of an issue raised by a Deputy, he/she shall be notified as soon as possible.

3. A Deputy has the right to receive, as soon as possible, members of the Government, as well as heads of public administration bodies subordinate to the Government, the Prime Minister and ministries, officials of the diplomatic service of the Republic of Armenia, heads of municipalities or officials, having the authority to respond to his written inquiries, proposals.

4. A Deputy, in accordance with the procedure established by law, may be present at the sittings of the state and local self-government bodies.

Article 7. Organizing Reception with Citizens by a Deputy 

1. The local self-government bodies, at the request of a Deputy, at least a day in a month shall be obliged to allocate an equipped room or hall for organizing a reception of citizens.

Article 8. Eligibility for Deferral from Compulsory Military Service

1. A Deputy, during the period of his office, has the right to receive a deferral and is exempt from mobilization and training fees.

Article 9. Provision of Housing Conditions for a Deputy

1. A Deputy who does not have an apartment in the city of Yerevan shall be given compensation, equal to the rent of an apartment in the city of Yerevan.

Article 10. Vacation of a Deputy

1. A Deputy has the right to an annual paid vacation of 30 working days. In addition to the main vacation pay, the Deputy shall be paid an additional one-time vacation pay in the amount of his average monthly salary.

2. A Deputy shall have the right to unpaid vacation, established by the labor legislation.

3. Annual paid leave shall be granted to Deputies in summer, after the end of the regular session.

Article 11. Provision of the Activities of a Deputy

1. A Deputy, in the residence of the National Assembly, shall be provided with an equipped office, equipped with technical means and means of communication (including a computer, Internet connection), and in the sitting hall of the National Assembly - a workstation equipped with a microphone and equipment for personal electronic voting.

2. Professional services for the activities of a Deputy shall be provided by his assistants and the Staff of the National Assembly.

3. The assistant, by the recommendation of a Deputy:

1) shall prepare documents submitted by the Deputy for the debate of the National Assembly;

2) shall prepare analytical, informational and other materials necessary for the implementation of the powers of a Deputy;

3) shall organize the reception of citizens to meet the Deputy;

4) may attend open sittings of the National Assembly committees and parliamentary hearings by the procedure prescribed by the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Armenia “Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly.”

5) shall run the administration of documents addressed to a Deputy.

4. An assistant to a Deputy, who works on a paid basis, shall be employed under a fixed-term contract, according to his application and on the proposal of the Deputy.

5. An assistant to a Deputy who works on a paid basis may be released from work by the grounds and procedure established by the labor legislation, as well as shall be released from work in the case of interruption or termination of the Deputy's powers.

6. Assistants to Deputies, during the performance of their work duties, shall use the Deputy's office, technical and communication facilities.

Article 12. Entry into force of the Law

1. This Law shall enter into force on the day of the opening of the first session of the National Assembly of the next convocation.