Armenian Constitutional Court recuses two judges from election challenge case

Armenia’s Constitutional Court has ruled that two of its judges will not participate in proceedings concerning legal challenges to the results of the country’s June 7 parliamentary elections, a case that could determine whether the vote stands or a new election is ordered.

In a procedural decision, the court also granted third-party status to the ruling Civil Contract party in the consolidated case brought by seven political groups seeking to invalidate the election results.

The petitions, filed on June 19, challenge the Central Electoral Commission’s certification of the election outcome and request that the results be annulled and a repeat vote be held. The Constitutional Court has merged all seven applications into a single proceeding, with a hearing scheduled for June 26 at 11:00 a.m. local time. Justice Edgar Shatiryan has been appointed rapporteur for the case.

According to court decisions, Constitutional Court judges Artak Zeynalyan and Vladimir Vardanyan will not take part in the hearing on the case. The court stated that their participation was impossible because they were deemed to have a prejudicial relationship toward a party to the proceedings, its representatives, or other participants in the litigation.

The motions seeking their recusal were submitted by the political forces contesting the election results.

Vardanyan served as a lawmaker of the Civil Contract parliamentary faction from 2019 until his appointment to the Constitutional Court by the National Assembly on March 25 this year.

Zeynalyan was previously affiliated with the Republic Party, led by former Prime Minister Aram Sargsyan, before being elected to the Constitutional Court by parliament on June 19, 2025.

The legal challenge was filed by the Strong Armenia alliance, Prosperous Armenia Party, Hayastan (Armenia) alliance, Wings of Unity party, Democracy Law Discipline Party, Alliance for the Defense of Republican Democracy and the New Force Reformist Party.