For the purpose of protecting his or her rights, a person shall have the right to appeal the decisions and actions (inaction) of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia and its officials through an administrative or judicial procedure.

Administrative Procedure

An administrative appeal may be lodged to the administrative body having adopted the administrative act or to the superior administrative body of the administrative body.

The administrative appeal may be lodged:

-          within six months following entry into force of the administrative act;

-          within one month following the day the administrative body performed the action;

-          within three months following the day the administrative body has been inactive;

-          within one year following the day of entry into force of the administrative act where no period for lodging an appeal is indicated in the written administrative act.

The act may not be appealed after the specified deadline for lodging an administrative appeal, except for cases when it is considered that there was a good reason for missing the deadline and the deadline is extended. It may be considered that there was a good reason for missing the deadline for lodging an appeal, if the participant in the proceedings has missed the deadline due to reasons beyond his or her control.

After eliminating the reason(s) due to which the deadline for lodging an appeal was missed, the participant in the proceedings may lodge an appeal within 15 days by indicating the reason(s) for missing the deadline.

After one year following expiry of the deadline for lodging an appeal, the participant in the proceedings shall lose the right to appeal on grounds of missing the deadline for lodging an appeal for a good reason, except for cases when the deadline for lodging an appeal was missed due to the consequences caused by force majeure.

The administrative appeal shall be submitted in writing and shall contain:

-          the name of the administrative body with which the appeal is lodged;

-          the name, surname, address of the natural person lodging the appeal, and in case of a legal person — the name, registered office of the legal person, the name, surname and position of the person lodging the appeal on behalf of the legal person;

-          the subject matter of the appeal;

-          the claim of the person lodging the appeal;

-          the list of the documents enclosed with the appeal;

-          the year, month and day of drawing up the appeal;

-          the signature of the person lodging the appeal, in case of a legal person — the signature of the person lodging the appeal on behalf of the legal person.

Administrative proceedings conducted on grounds of appeal shall be initiated on the day the appeal has been filed with the administrative body.

When deciding on the appeal, the appeal shall be left unexamined, if it has been lodged after the expiry of the deadline prescribed by law, and if it has been decided that there was no good reason for missing the deadline.

The lodging of an administrative appeal shall suspend execution of the appealed administrative act, except for:

-          cases provided for by law where the administrative act is subject to immediate execution;

-          cases when immediate execution serves the public interest.

Examining the administrative appeal lodged against the administrative act, the administrative body having adopted the appealed administrative act shall be entitled to:

-          grant the appeal, in whole or in part, by declaring the administrative act as invalid or null and void or by adopting a new administrative act;

-          reject the appeal by upholding the administrative act.

Examining the administrative appeal lodged against the actions of the administrative body, the administrative body whose actions have been appealed, shall be entitled to:

-          grant the appeal, in whole or in part, by declaring the appealed action — in whole or in part — as unlawful and terminating the given action where the action was ongoing at time of accepting the application concerning the appeal;

-          reject the appeal on grounds of lawfulness of the action.

Examining the administrative appeal lodged against inaction of the administrative body, the administrative body whose inaction has been appealed shall be entitled to:

-          grant the appeal, in whole or in part, and perform the action requested, in whole or in part, respectively;

-          reject the appeal on grounds of lawfulness of the inaction.

Judicial procedure

The decisions and actions (inaction) of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia and its officials may be appealed also through a judicial procedure as prescribed by the Administrative Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia.

Each natural or legal person shall have the right to apply to the Administrative Court, where he or she considers that the administrative acts, actions or inaction of state or local self-government bodies or their officials have:

1.   violated or may directly violate his or her rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution, international treaties, laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Armenia, including where:

-          there are obstacles to the exercise of these rights and freedoms;

-          the conditions necessary for the exercise of these rights have not been ensured, however, they should have been ensured by virtue of the Constitution, international treaties, law or other legal acts of the Republic of Armenia;

2.   imposed an unlawful obligation on him or her;

3.   unlawfully subjected him or her to administrative liability through administrative procedure.

Where the administrative act has been appealed through administrative and judicial procedure simultaneously, the appeal shall be subject to judicial review in which case the proceedings initiated within the administrative body shall be dismissed.

Administrative Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia

Law of the Republic of Armenia “On fundamentals of administrative action and administrative proceedings”