Senator Kosachev called the ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC in Armenia humiliating

Ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC for any state means the loss of legal sovereignty, which is humiliating in itself. With its approval, the process of legal enslavement began in Armenia, stated Vice Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev in his Telegram channel.

“It is for this reason that truly sovereign states, including Russia, the USA, India, China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Iran and others, do not join the ICC,” the senator emphasized.

Kosachev expressed regret that Armenia took this unfriendly step towards Russia due to the fact that there were no forces in the Armenian parliament capable of stopping the process of legal enslavement of the country by the “Hague Themis”.

According to the senator, ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC will not help Armenia achieve an investigation into alleged war crimes in the conflict zone with Azerbaijan, but may result in ICC interference in the internal affairs of the state. In addition, the text of the Rome Statute contains provisions limiting the criminal jurisdiction of States Parties. Thus, the court in The Hague will determine on a case-by-case basis whether a given situation is the result of Armenia’s “unwillingness or inability” to prosecute “properly.”

The Armenian Parliament ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on October 3. 60 deputies voted “for”, 20 “against”. The decision to adopt the statute was made by deputies of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s “Civil Contract” party; the opposition boycotted the vote.

Armenia signed but did not ratify the Rome Statute in 1998. The Constitutional Court of the Republic recognized the obligations of the treaty as contrary to a number of provisions of the 1995 Constitution. On March 4, 2023, the Constitutional Court of Armenia decided that the obligations set out in the Rome Statute are consistent with the fundamental law of the country.