HOVHANNES BAYANDURYAN

Member of the Chamber of Advocates of the RA,

PhD student at the Chair of Criminal Law and

Criminal Procedure Law of Armenian-Russian University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59546/18290744-2025.1-3-119

 

Annotation.

The article examines the institution of exemption from criminal prosecution of legal entities in various legal systems, including the legislation of Armenia and foreign countries. It analyzes the balance between the principles of legality and expediency in decisions to forgo criminal prosecution, as well as the legal mechanisms that allow for the avoidance of judicial proceedings under certain conditions. Particular attention is given to international experience, including Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPA) and Non-Prosecution Agreements (NPA) used in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and France. The article explores the conditions under which legal entities may be exempt from liability, such as the implementation of anti-corruption measures, compensation for damages, and cooperation with law enforcement authorities.

In conclusion, we substantiate the necessity of reforming Armenia's criminal procedural legislation to introduce procedural alternatives to criminal prosecution. The implementation of these mechanisms would enhance the flexibility of criminal proceedings, reduce reputational risks for businesses, encourage lawful behavior among legal entities, and establish an effective system for preventing corporate crimes. Furthermore, the application of these mechanisms could contribute to strengthening public trust in law enforcement and the judiciary by ensuring transparency and predictability in criminal prosecution decisions.

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GEVORG BARSEGHIAN

PhD Student at the Chair of Criminal Law of

YSU Faculty of Law, Lecturer

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59546/18290744-2025.1-3-100

 

Annotation.

Employees of bodies carrying out operational-search activities and persons cooperating with these bodies play a significant role in the fight against crime. In the course of preventing criminal offenses committed or being committed by others, mitigating their consequences, uncovering crimes, or obtaining necessary evidence, individuals engaged in operational-search activities may face real possibilities of causing harm to interests protected under Criminal Law. Therefore, Criminal Law should provide the possibility of exempting a person engaged in operational-search activities from criminal liability for an act that is formally deemed unlawful, provided that specific conditions of legality are met—taking into account the absence of unlawfulness in the act and its socially beneficial and purpose-driven nature.

However, an analysis of the grounds for exemption from criminal liability as established in the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia reveals that the issue under consideration is not comprehensively regulated, and there is no developed integrated legal norm aimed at exempting individuals engaged in operational-search activities from criminal liability in cases where harm is caused to interests protected by Criminal Law under specific conditions of legality. This article focuses on examining this specific issue.

Based on the results of the research conducted within the scope of this article, we propose the inclusion of a comprehensive legal norm in the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, titled “Causing Harm to Interests Protected by Criminal Law in the Course of Conducting Operational-Search Measures”. This provision would aim to exempt individuals engaged in operational-search activities from criminal liability when harm is caused to legally protected interests under specific conditions of legality.

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MERI VANUNI

Specialist of the Unit of Organization of Scientific Research and

Programmatic-Methodological Activities of the Academy of Justice,

expert of the budget process coordination department of

Ministry of Finance of the RA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59546/18290744-2025.1-3-93

 

Annotation.

This article analyzes the changes made to Armenia’s legislation in 2022, particularly the amendments to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, aimed at more effective implementation of international criminal law norms at the national level. The article examines the introduction of clear definitions of international crimes such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, which allows for their prosecution in Armenia regardless of the time and place of commission. One of the key aspects also involves strengthening coordination between Armenian law enforcement agencies and international judicial bodies, contributing to the improvement of extradition processes and evidence transfer. The article raises issues such as the lack of qualified specialists in international criminal law, insufficient resources for conducting complex investigations, and the technical inadequacy of law enforcement bodies. The political and diplomatic complexities surrounding extradition, which can affect the prosecution of perpetrators, are also emphasized. In conclusion, the article calls for further improvement of national legislation, the development of international cooperation, and the training of specialists to effectively investigate international crimes.

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GEVORG ISRAYELYAN

Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor,

Head of the Scientific Research Center of Applied Problems in Criminology of

National Bureau of Expertises of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia,

Lecturer at Eurasia International University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59546/18290744-2025.1-3-87

 

Annotation.

An analysis of statistical data in recent years has revealed a steady increase in crimes against legitimate weapons trafficking. This indicates the need to activate the preventive effect. In order to ensure a preventive effect, in particular, for the organization of individual preventive work, it is necessary to carry out a study of the criminological components of these crimes, including the personality of a criminal.

The article presents the results of a study conducted by the author of a person who has committed crimes against the legitimate trafficking of weapons, based on data from 50 judicial acts adopted in 2023-2024. As a result of the research, the signs characterizing the structural elements of the criminal’s personality and their criminological significance are revealed.

The results of the author’s research prove that a person who commits crimes against the legitimate trafficking of weapons is generally characterized by criminal activity at a young age (25-50 years old), belonging to the male sex, Armenian nationality, citizenship of the Republic of Armenia, marital relations, low level of education, lack of permanent employment, committing crimes motivated by possession of weapons and self-affirmation. These and other data characterizing the offender should be taken into account when determining the direction of individual prevention of the above-mentioned crimes, choosing a method and solving other organizational issues.

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ARMAN BABAKHANYAN

Assistant to the Judge of the Criminal Chamber of the Cassation Court of the RA,

Lecturer at YSU Chair of Criminal Law

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59546/18290744-2025.1-3-70

 

Annotation.

This article is dedicated to some key issues in the criminal-legal fight against the leadership of the thieves’ world. In particular, in the article, the author discussed the object, the objective aspect of the corpus delicti of managing the thieves’ world, the negative characteristic of the corpus delicti provided for in Article 323 of the Criminal Code of the RA, as well as the question of expediency of provision of a special incentive norm that exempts the persons who manage the thieves’ world from criminal liability on the condition that they demonstrate positive post-criminal behavior.

As a result, the author, referring to various theoretical sources, specified the object and objective aspect of managing the thieves’ world, and also presented a proposal aimed at improving the negative characteristic of the corpus delicti set out in the article under discussion.

In addition, the author came to the conclusion that although it is acceptable to exonerate the persons who manage the thieves’ world from criminal liability in some cases on the condition that they demonstrate positive post-criminal behavior, this should not be done by providing an incentive norm in that article, but should be carried out by exonerating the offender from criminal responsibility on the basis of remorse provided by part 1.1 of Article 81 of the Criminal Code of the RA. The necessary conditions for applying that basis to the persons who manage the thieves’ world should be clarified as much as possible by the Court of Cassation of the RA.

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SIRO AMIRKHANYAN

Chief Compulsory Enforcement Officer of the RA,

PhD student at YSU Chair of Civil Law

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59546/18290744-2025.1-3-58

 

Annotation.

Despite the fact that the legislation of the Republic of Armenia enshrines the category of legal entities of public law, only communities and inter-community associations have such a status.

The relevance of the topic is due to the fact that the legal consolidation of the category of legal entities of public law in the legislation of the Republic of Armenia should also lead to a more complete definition of their types. Based on the legal norms in force in the Republic of Armenia and abroad and the works of a number of legal scholars, it is substantiated that although in the Republic of Armenia the state and communities are currently considered special subjects of the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia, there can be no other “third” subjects of civil law, except for individuals and legal entities, since the subsidiary applicability of legal norms in relation to legal entities, permissible only in certain cases, acts as a legislative requirement as the impossibility of identifying the subjects in question, requiring the law enforcement officer to establish fundamental differences between them, the structure of which should be the legal entity of public law itself, which is accepted in almost all countries of the Romano-Germanic legal system, where this category exists. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between the types of legal entities of public law in the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia and establish that these are the state and administrative-territorial units: community, inter-community association and region.

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