Today's guest of the headline "Let's get to know our lawyers" is lawyer Arsen Sardaryan. We talked to him from the profession of a lawyer about how it turned out that he combined the work of a judge-lawyer.
- Mr. Sardaryan, before practicing law, you worked as a judge, why did you decide to move from a judge to a lawyer?
- Before working as a judge, I was engaged in advocacy. The work of a lawyer was very interesting for me, but a few years later there were some complaints about the judiciary. Alleged corruption kills the legal profession, in general, law.
I tried to fight systemic corruption by becoming a judge myself. I worked as a judge in the Court of General Jurisdiction of Syunik Region for three years, and my residence was in the territory of the Artsakh Republic. I worked very hard, I was examining military cases, I even completed 170 cases a year ago. However, I can say that this is not something to brag about, because if you have done a lot of work, you may not have delved into the circumstances. Of course, this was also due to the fact that in Syunik, in military cases, soldiers often petitioned for an expedited judicial act; we did not, in fact, discuss the circumstances. There have been cases when the accusation was so unacceptable to me that I rejected the motion, conducted a general investigation, and often made excuses.
- What interesting events happened during your work as a judge?
- Our legislation related to crimes committed in the army is problematic. Sometimes disproportionately severe punishments are imposed for the act. In the conditions of such legislation, I became a judge applying Article 64 of the RA Criminal Code, which was unprecedented in the Republic of Armenia, by which I imposed milder punishments. This way of working initially caused a great deal of anger among the prosecutors because they were not used to it, but later my way of working became more accepted. It has been a year since I acquitted 15 people and made a decision to rehabilitate about 30 people. In the military sphere, very often, people who have committed crimes are not criminals by nature. When you see that young man, you realize that he found himself in that position due to circumstances. As a justice, you can not punish him severely,
- Do you remember the first guilty verdict you made?
- I do not remember a guilty verdict as such, in very few cases I have sentenced people. Maybe it was related to the military sphere, because the punishments provided by the criminal code are very exaggerated there. None of my judicial acts caused much emotion, I tried to be guided by conscience, there was no corpus delicti, I justified it. At that time, acts of acquittal were accepted by some of my colleagues in the judiciary as strangely inconsistent.
However, I think I was a good judge, and my advantage was that I never clung to a judge's chair. As soon as a person begins to use that chair in his life, he begins to worry about the dangers of losing that chair. For many years to come, our country will be in danger of losing its seat to judges who do not swear allegiance to the system. Judges should not be afraid of losing their seats.
- Were there any internal conflicts between the person "Judge Arsen Sardaryan"?
- In fact, such a phenomenon occurred in the beginning of my work, when the punishment was obviously disproportionate to the act. I fought a lot in myself, in that fight Arsen Sardaryan won. Of course, there were times when I was tense, because it is difficult to fit that decision into the laws of "your kind", but in general, the Constitution comes to the rescue. For example, the norm of our Constitution, which stipulates that the punishment should be proportionate to the act, I have often been guided by it when the Criminal Code led me to a deadlock.
- It was not a judge working for the re- return advocacy activities should be guided by the client's best interest.
- I look at my work as a lawyer, not as a judge or a lawyer. We must look at the issue systematically. You do not have to merge with the client, become one person, as a lawyer, you have to be able to find the weaknesses of the case, to present it in the best way. If a person's guilt is not proven, then it is in the interest of justice, otherwise we will not have a legal mindset.
- P misconduct will never defend .
- I can not say that I would not defend the perpetrator of such a crime, of course, we all have our own approaches to some issues. As a lawyer, I would say that in a behavior that seems immoral at first glance, when you go deeper, there may not be a crime. Naturally, there are situations to stay away from. It may be the smallest crime, but I will not take the case.
- What do you need to succeed in your field?
- A lawyer should love his profession, not his status. I love the profession of a lawyer with unwavering love. Whether I work as a Minister of Justice, a lawyer or a lawyer in an office, it makes no difference to me. The role of a lawyer is no less important in the field of justice. You have to be active, diligent in obtaining evidence, show the best skills to present it.
What is Arsene Sardaryan out in law.
- I spend my free time with my family and my sons. My eldest son is already my friend, even though he is still five years old. I also like to ski.
Hrachuhi Almastyan