The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) overseeing Armenian courts on Monday unanimously dismissed judge Anna Pilosyan of the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction for “misconduct”.
The decision was announced by the SJC chair and former justice minister, Karen Andreasyan, at a meeting on Monday.
The judge was accused of delaying rulings in four civil cases for 1-2 years.
A motion for disciplinary action against Pilosyan had been filed by Grigor Minasyan, Andreasyan's former deputy who was named Armenia’s new justice minister on Monday.
All eight of nine SJC members attending the meeting backed disciplinary proceedings against the judge, but two of them, Ani Mkhitaryan and David Khachaturyan, voted against her dismissal.
Anna Pilosyan is the spouse of former Artsakh ombudsman and human rights activist Ruben Melikyan, a vocal critic of the Armenian government who defends victims of political persecution in court.
Following the SJC decision, Pilosyan took to Facebook to express gratitude to Armenia’s third President Serzh Sargsyan for her appointment as a judge, her colleagues and the entire legal community for effective cooperation.
She called the decision of the judicial watchdog “completely unfair”.
“I believe I have earned the right to announce that I am leaving as...
