A criminal conviction in Armenia can be appealed. The Criminal Court of Appeal reviews the verdict of the first instance court. The Court of Cassation reviews the decision of the Court of Appeal. After the domestic remedies are used, the case can go to the European Court of Human Rights. Each step has a short deadline, and a complaint filed late is returned without review. A lawyer who will appeal the conviction must start work right after the verdict.
How to appeal a criminal conviction in Armenia
- Criminal Court of Appeal. It checks the verdict on the facts and on the law. It can uphold the verdict, change it or quash it.
- Court of Cassation. It checks questions of law. It does not accept every complaint. It takes cases where the decision matters for the uniform application of the law, or where a serious breach may have affected the result.
- European Court of Human Rights. The application is filed within 4 months after the final decision in Armenia.
The prosecutor and the victim can also appeal. The defense then answers their complaint, and this answer needs the same care as its own appeal.
What an appeal can challenge
- The court relied on evidence that was obtained with a breach of the law.
- The conclusions of the court do not follow from the evidence examined at trial.
- The court rejected defense evidence or witnesses without reasons.
- The acts were qualified under the wrong article.
- The punishment is too severe for the facts of the case and the person.
- The right to defense was breached, for example the person had no interpreter or no lawyer at a key moment.
- The verdict does not give proper reasons.
A strong complaint is specific. It refers to the pages of the file and to parts of the hearing record, and it explains how each breach affected the verdict. General disagreement with the verdict rarely helps.
Short deadlines
The deadlines for appeal and cassation are short. They run from the date that the law sets. A missed deadline can be restored only for a valid reason, and the court decides on it. Call an advocate on the day the verdict is announced. The work needs time: to study the file, to get the record of the hearings and to write the arguments.
New evidence and reopening a case
Sometimes evidence appears after the trial. A witness is found, a new examination is done, or a document comes to light. Depending on the stage, it can go to the higher court, or it can be a ground to review the case because of new or newly discovered circumstances. A judgment of the European Court that finds a violation of the Convention in the case is also a ground to reopen it in Armenia.
Appeals against detention decisions
A decision on detention, or on its extension, can be appealed to the Criminal Court of Appeal separately from the verdict. This deadline is also short. The higher court checks whether a real risk was proven and why the first court rejected bail or another measure. More about this stage is on the page about pretrial detention.
How advocate Marukyan helps with an appeal
Advocate Mnatsakan Marukyan practices criminal defense only, from the first hours after arrest through the trial to the Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation. In an appeal he:
- reads the full file and the hearing record and finds the errors that can change the result;
- calculates the deadline and files the complaint in time;
- writes the appeal, the cassation complaint or the answer to the prosecutor’s complaint;
- presents the arguments at the hearing;
- prepares the application to the European Court within 4 months after the final decision;
- after the verdict enters into force, helps with early release when the law allows it.
He works in Armenian, Russian and English. The first consultation is free. The office is at Athens street 3/3, Yerevan.
Call +374 91 403961, or write on WhatsApp or Telegram. Advocate Marukyan is available 24/7 for arrests and searches.