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It is proposed to fix by the draft that the person included in the RA Defence on voluntary basis by the law on Defense դuring the fulfilment of the military service duty is also a subject of crime aimed at the order established by the military service. The deputy of the Civil Contract Faction Alkhas Ghazaryan said this at the regular sitting of the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, presenting in the first reading the package of the draft laws on Making Amendments to the RA Criminal Code and Making Addenda to the RA law on Defense.

According to the rapporteur, pursuant to Article 29.1 of the law on Defense, the militia is the system of the citizens’ participation on a voluntary basis to the armed defense of the Republic of Armenia in the conditions of the armed attack on the Republic of Armenia, the availability of its direct danger or military actions. The definition of the notion militia is given by the same law. Accordingly, a militia is a complex of sub-divisions functioning under the subordination of the General Staff of the Armed Forces on the principle of the citizens’ voluntariness and territoriality, where the involved citizens take part in the armed defense of the Republic of Armenia.

“The Criminal Code clearly fixes that the person being considered military servant is a subject of crime against the order established by the military service. In case of this formulation the militiamen are subjects of crime against the order established by the military service, in case of which it is not possible to make criminally liable the militiamen who breached the order of the military service,” Alkhas Gհazaryan said and noticed that the abovementioned problem is topical. “In the Military Investigative General Department of the Investigative Committee a number of criminal proceedings are under examination, which refer to the militia on breaching the rule of military duty or military service. As a consequence of the inconsistency of the legislation in force the criminal proceedings proposed towards the militiamen who committed crime against order established by the military service,” the deputy noted.

Alkhas Gհazaryan assured that as a result of the adoption of the draft, it is designed by law t5o legislate the status of the militiamen as a subject of crime directed to the order established by the military service, which will give an opportunity to get a decent legal evaluation to the breaches made by the latter and to solve the problems arising in practice.

The deputy of the same Faction Arpine Davoyan presented the co-report. The parliamentarian informed that the revised version of the draft was repeatedly debated and called on her colleagues to endorse it.

The Deputy Minister of Justice presented the position of the Government. Ara Mkrtchyan informed that the Government is for the draft.

The Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee informed that there are about two dozens of proceedings, and within their framework the militia had committed different kinds of crimes. Arsen Ayvazyan also noted that the persons taking part in the defense with the militia should bear some obligations.

The Committee endorsed the draft with the revised version.