Armenian parliament equals international agreements to laws
YEREVAN, March 23, nbsp;/ARKA/. At an extraordinary meeting on Friday Armenia’s parliament passed in the second and final reading a bill on international treaties, which according to deputy foreign minister Shavarsh Kocharyan is aimed at bringing it in line with Armenian constitutional amendments and improving the procedure for concluding international agreements.br br
He said under the bill the approval, suspension and termination of international agreements by the Armenian president will be possible only on a government proposal.br br
He noted that if earlier international agreements were ratified, suspended or changed by the decision of the parliament, under the bill they become legislative acts. In fact, the National Assembly will adopt international agreements in the form of laws.br br
He said also the bill envisages that the procedures for concluding, ratifying, suspending and changing agreements on the country's membership in international organizations as well as international agreements should be regulated by referenda.br br
The deputy minister said that the government will apply to the Constitutional Court on the compatibility of international agreements with the constitution of the country. He stressed that the second part of the bill envisages that classification of international treaties as interstate, intergovernmental and interagency will be eliminated since Armenia acts as a subject of international law, regardless of the form of the agreement and the body that concludes it.br br
International agreements are submitted for discussion by the government only after the internal coordination, Kocharyan said.br br
In addition, the bill envisages a mechanism for the cancellation of international agreements signed but not yet in force , while the procedure for authorizing their signing is simplified. --0--br br br br br