What does ratification of the Rome Statute by Armenia mean?

On October 3, the National Assembly of Armenia ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). 60 deputies from the ruling Civil Contract faction voted for ratification (with 54 votes required). 22 deputies from the opposition factions “Armenia” and “I Have the Honor” voted against. In March, the country’s constitutional court recognized the obligations under the ICC treaty as consistent with fundamental law, overturning its 2004 decision that the Rome Statute was unconstitutional.

“[Ратификация значит, что] any serious crime committed on the territory of the Republic of Armenia will fall under the jurisdiction of the ICC, and for those who intend to commit such a crime, this will have at least a deterrent effect. Considering the fact that the armed forces of Azerbaijan are still located on the sovereign territory of Armenia, ratification is justified,” government spokesman for international legal affairs Yeghishe Kirakosyan said after the vote (quoted by Armenpress).

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on September 24 that the ratification of the Rome Statute was a consequence of the fact that “the CSTO and the instruments of the Armenian-Russian strategic partnership are not enough to ensure external security.” At the same time, Yerevan tried to assure Moscow that ratification was not directed against its top officials. In March, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and children’s ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. “We proposed to Russia to conclude a bilateral agreement so that if the Rome Statute is ratified by Armenia, Russia’s fears will be dispelled,” Kirakosyan said.

As Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said on October 3, Moscow “absolutely disagrees with the words of Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan that Armenia’s decision to join the Rome Statute was due to the insufficiency of the CSTO instruments and the Armenian-Russian partnership to ensure the country’s security ” As for the proposal for an agreement with Russia, then, according to Peskov, now it represents “only the idea of ​​the Armenian side.” According to Peskov, this proposal will be discussed and a legal analysis of the situation will be carried out. “But the fact remains: Armenia recognized the ICC. The ICC is a structure that is unrecognized for us, and, of course, we consider the ICC decision on President Putin and Lvova-Belova to be absolutely illegal and insignificant,” said the press secretary of the Russian President.

The ratification of the Rome Statute by Armenia is really aimed at obtaining legal leverage to put pressure on Azerbaijan in the international arena, says Doctor of Legal Sciences Alexey Ispolinov. In addition, ratification of this document is usually one of the conditions for synchronizing legal norms with European ones and strengthening ties with the EU up to association agreements, says Ispolinov. But the practical implementation of pressure on Baku through the ICC and the Rome Statute, which has not been ratified by Azerbaijan, remains questionable, the lawyer continues.

At a minimum, the provisions of the document cannot be used in the case of Nagorno-Karabakh, since they are valid only on the territory of the signatory country. It can be assumed that appeals to the ICC will be used by Armenia in the event of a violation of internationally recognized borders in a border conflict with Azerbaijan. The ICC agreement with Russia is obviously analogous to more than 100 agreements on non-extradition of its citizens that the United States concluded with the signatories of the Rome Statute, the expert continues. “Now the situation is mirrored: the initiator for a bilateral agreement is the signatory country, and not the one that feels threatened. But Russia’s fears are justified: there are no precedents for these agreements in the United States yet. In addition, any such agreement can be denounced if the political situation changes, which is well understood in the Foreign Ministry and the Kremlin,” explains Ispolinov.

When Armenia promoted the idea of ​​joining the Rome Statute, the main motivation was to bring the Azerbaijani military to criminal responsibility in the context of the events in Karabakh. But the renewal of the issue of the ICC coincided with the blockade of the Lachin corridor and accusations of Russia’s inaction in the winter of 2022 – spring of 2023, recalls Stanislav Pritchin, an expert at the Center for Post-Soviet Studies at IMEMO RAS. This is already an image blow to Moscow, he continues. Azerbaijan is not a party to the Rome Statute and it is difficult to apply the ICC’s decision against Baku, says Pritchin. But the issue of the ICC is a tangible problem for Russian-Armenian relations, since recognizing the court’s decisions actually means joining the campaign of pressure on Russia and Putin’s visit to Yerevan in such conditions is extremely difficult to imagine, the expert concluded.