Development of criminal procedure law of Armenia out of the law (extra legem) and contrary to the law (contra legem)

Abstract

The article discusses questions of the development of criminal procedure law contrary to the criminal procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia (Code) (contra legem) of theoretical and practical significance. In the first part of the article, the author presented the content of the concept of «law (Jus) interest», which is used in the Codes of 1998 and 2021. The author considers a value-based approach to the concept of «law (jus) interest» possible only in conditions of a broad law understanding. If any provision of the Code is clearly (blatantly) opposed to law principles expressing the essence of criminal procedure law, then the only addressee of the legislative requirement to be guided by the interest of law is institutionally and functionally independent of the executive branch court (1), which can act contrary to a specific provision of the Code, but in accordance with the principles of law (2). The second part of the article presents the views of the law of Russian processalists A.S. Alexandrov and L.V. Golovko, and also examines whether these scientists consider the development of procedural law permissible contrary to the Code or not. In the third part of the article, it is noted that the judges of the RA, as a rule, avoid directly mentioning in their judicial acts, according to which methodology they carried out the development of law: by an expansive interpretation, by means of extra legem or contra legem law development. The author briefly presents his approaches to the differentiation of law development institutions: spatial interpretation of the law, outside of the law (extra legem) and contrary to the law (contra legem). The article also discusses various examples of the development of criminal procedure law contrary to the Code by the Court of Cassation of the RA.