According to the Law on Bodies of the State Administration System, the National Security Service (NSS) is among the bodies subordinate to the Prime Minister, while the Director and the Deputy Directors of the service, according to the current regulations, are appointed and dismissed by the President of the Republic of Armenia. It is necessary to revise the existing regulations in such a way that the RA Prime Minister appoints and dismisses the mentioned persons, taking into consideration the fact that the service is subject to the latter: This was stated by the RA Deputy Minister of Justice Armenuhi Harutyunyan at the RA NA extraordinary session on December 22. In the first and then the second reading, the draft law on Making Amendments to the Law on Service in National Security Bodies and the enclosed package of draft laws were debated.
With the proposed amendments, the RA Prime Minister will appoint and dismiss the Director of the service, as well as will appoint and dismiss the Deputy Directors of the service, at the proposal of the Director of the service.
The Secretary of the RA NA Armenia Faction Artsvik Minasyan inquired whether they have international experience, what procedure is used to appoint the leadership of the NSS in other countries, and whether the legislative body participates in such appointments. “Isn’t this regulation problematic when Article 14 of the Constitution stipulates that the Government carries out the general management of the bodies of the state administration system? And in fact, we continue to maintain the NSS not at least in the status of a body subordinate to the Government, but subordinate to the Prime Minister,” Artsvik Minasyan asked. Armenuhi Harutyunyan said that the study of international experience was done for explanatory purposes, because the actual amendments are made in order to localize the regulations of already adopted laws. According to her, the international experience is diverse, for some parts of European countries this official is appointed by the Heads of state and Prime Ministers. According to the Deputy Minister of Justice, there are no cases of appointment by the legislative body.
The co-rapporteur, the Deputy Chair of the Standing (Head) Committee on Defense and Security Armen Khachatryan presented the endorsement of the Committee.
The Parliament adopted the debated issue.