Armenian parliament ratifies Rome Statute

The Armenian parliament has voted in favor of ratifying the Rome Statute, which is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC), TASS reports. It has been signed by 137 countries and ratified by more than 120.

“Sixty deputies voted for ratifying the document, 22 voted against,” Armenpress writes. Now, the statute needs to be signed by the president.

Armenia signed the Rome Statute in 1998, but the ratification process was interrupted in 2004 after the document was recognized as contradicting Armenia’s constitution. The Armenian government resumed the ratification process at the end of 2022.

Russia has actively opposed Armenia’s ratification of the document, including because the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In turn, Armenian authorities have justified the need to ratify the statute with security concerns: “War crimes have been and are being committed against our country. We need it [ratification], our country needs it,” Alen Simonyan, speaker of the house, said in early September.