Economic Rights: Envisaged Legislative Changes according to the National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights

The right to engage in economic, including entrepreneurial activities, is a fundamental human right. According to Article 8 of the former edition of the Constitution, freedom of economic activity and free economic competition, which is manifested through doing business, are guaranteed in the Republic of Armenia. At present, in Article 114 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia, it is mentioned in terms of the result of the economic activity of the joint-stock company, further in Article 275 of the same Code, in terms of foreign economic activity, and in Article 746, in terms of the immediate economic activity of the contractor.

Continuing and attaching importance to the mentioned idea and being concerned about the development of the country, Part 1 of Article 59 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia stipulates that everyone has the right to engage in economic activities, including entrepreneurship. The conditions and procedure for exercising this right shall be established by law.

Freedom of economic activity means a legally guaranteed opportunity to freely use one’s abilities and property for economic activity not prohibited by law, i.e. to conduct entrepreneurial activity.

Economic activities are also often referred to in the court practice. Thus, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia by the decision SDO-152 referred to the freedom of economic activity – free economic competition, by the decision SDO-1131 the term ordinary economic activity is used, in another case by the decision SDO-1065 the court found that… in this case, the common object is not so much the system of government, but the economic activity and legal regulations should be aimed at guaranteeing competitive, free economic activity.

According to National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights and its Implementation Action Plan for 2020-2022” (hereinafter referred to as the Strategy) approved by the Government of the Republic of Armenia on 26 December, 2019 by Decision No. 1978-L, the actions and programs mostly target the implementation of legislative changes of the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition from the point of view of human rights protection, which will define measures of responsibility in accordance with the predictable criteria of exercising discretion.

Only in the presence of strong legal guarantees is it possible to guarantee the realization of the basic human and citizen right to freedom of economic activity and economic competition.

In addition, raising the awareness of Armenian businesses on relevant EEU legal regulations is becoming increasingly important.

In order to achieve the mentioned goals, in 2020-2022 it is planned to carry out the following actions:

1. Raise awareness on EEU customs regulations: As in any society, only in the case of high level of awareness is it possible to properly protect the rights and interests, developing economic relations within the country and in foreign relations.
2. Legislatively improve the toolkit/powers of the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition: The enactment of rights and powers in any situation makes it more stable and effective.

Ensuring economic rights as a priority, and the actions envisaged under it, are aimed at achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal 8, which is to “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.”

This publication has been produced in the scope of the “Promoting Direct Democracy for Strengthening Human Rights in Armenia” project implemented in the framework of the “Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility” project funded by the European Union

The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the fellow for the “Promoting Direct Democracy for Strengthening of Human Rights in Armenia” project and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union.