Justice Minister: Draft of Armenia’s New Constitution Expected in 10 Months

By Elen Muradyan

Armenian Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan said on Wednesday that no decision has yet been made on when the draft of a new Constitution will be put to a referendum. Speaking to reporters in parliament, Galyan said the text is still being developed and is expected to be ready within ten months.

“The Constitution is still in the drafting phase, and the process is being carried out using internal resources of the Ministry of Justice,” she said. Once the draft is complete, Galyan added, its key provisions will be made public for discussion. “There will be no backroom decision-making. Everything will be presented in detail for public debate,” she emphasized.

The minister assured that the public will have ample time to review and form an opinion on the new Constitution before a national vote. “Ultimately, it is the people who will vote for or against the new Constitution,” she said.

The renewed push for constitutional reform follows Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s February 19 announcement on the need for a new constitutional framework. While Pashinyan first raised the issue of constitutional changes following the 2018 revolution, the process stalled in recent years.  

The renewed urgency is unfolding against the backdrop of mounting pressure from Azerbaijan. Baku claims that the preamble of Armenia’s current Constitution, which references the 1990 Declaration of Independence, implies territorial claims against Azerbaijan. The declaration itself cites the 1989 decision to reunify the Armenian SSR with the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region—a point Baku has used to argue that Armenia must amend its Constitution as a condition for signing a peace treaty.

According to Armenia’s current Constitution, any act put to a referendum is adopted if it receives more than half the votes cast and support from at least one-quarter of all eligible voters.

Prime Minister Pashinyan has not ruled out that the adoption of a new Constitution could mark the start of Armenia’s “Fourth Republic.”