Armenia ratifies ICC Rome Statute, opening path to arrest Putin

On 3 October, The Armenian parliament ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which issued the arrest warrant for Putin, Armenpress reported. The draft ratification of the Rome Statute was adopted by 60 votes, with 22 against and 0 abstentions. According to the Armenpress outlet, Armenia signed the Rome Statute in 1999 but has not ratified it. Earlier, the Constitutional Court recognized the obligations under the Rome Statute of the ICC, signed on 17 July 1998, as constitutional. In 2022, the government appealed to the Constitutional Court on this issue. On 1 September, the Armenian government sent the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to the National Assembly for ratification. Earlier, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Hakob Arshakyan said that Armenia would not arrest Putin even after the ratification of the Rome Statute by the country's parliament, as this would lead to a deterioration in relations between Armenia and Russia. On 13 September, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the Rome Statute of the ICC would be fully ratified in the country. On 17 March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, alleging they are guilty of the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. According to the Ukrainian analytical portal, "Slovo and Dilo," 122 countries have ratified the Rome Statute, while 31 countries have only signed it. The Statute defines the powers of the court in The Hague to investigate large-scale crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Read also:

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