With Support of Peace Dialogue NGO 2,520,157 AMD Confiscated from RA Ministry of Defense in Favour of Citizen

October 17, 2021
With Support of Peace Dialogue NGO 2,520,157 AMD Confiscated from RA Ministry of Defense in Favour of Citizen
© 2021. ILLUSTRATION BY PEACE DIALOGUE NGO

On 7 October, 2021, pursuant to the decision made on the administrative case No. VD/1362/05/18, 2,520,157 AMD (App. 5,000 USD) was confiscated from the RA Ministry of Defense in favor of the citizen A.S. through compulsory enforcement.

In 2009, A.S. entered Vazgen Sargsyan Military University of the RA Ministry of Defense. After graduating, he joined the RA Army for contract military service.

In 2017, pursuant to the provisions of Article 51, Part 1, Clause 10 of the RA Law on Serving in the Army, and of Article 52, Part 1, Clause 2 of the same law, A.S. submitted a report to the commander of the military unit, asking him to intercede for him to the superior command to release him as a reserve of the RA Armed Forces.

The RA Ministry of Defense informed A.S. that the amount of money to be reimbursed for his tuition expenses in case of early demobilization is 2,438,482 AMD. After learning about the amount, A.S. submitted a report to the RA Ministry of Defense on 9 December, 2017, in which he objected to the amount of reimbursable money related to his tuition fee and required for its recalculation.

The RA Ministry of Defense did not carry out recalculation, as a result of which, with the involvement of Peace Dialogue NGO and lawyer Artur Sukiasyan, A.S. filed a lawsuit to the RA Administrative Court about demands on obliging to recount of the amount subject to reimbursement of tuition-related expenses as well as to deduct the amount of money to be paid for working on non-working Saturdays during contract service.

On 1 April, 2019, on the administrative case No. VD /1362/05/18, the RA Administrative Court issued a decision on satisfying A.S.’s claim. The court decided to oblige the RA Ministry of Defense to recalculate the amount subject to reimbursement of the citizen’s tuition expenses and to deduct from the reimbursable amount of money the amount to be paid for working on non-working Saturdays during the contract service.

The RA Ministry of Defense filed an appeal against the aforementioned decision of the RA Administrative Court, which was rejected by the decision of the RA Administrative Court of Appeal on 15 July, 2020. As a result, the decision of the Administrative Court was entered into force.

The RA Ministry of Defense did not fulfill the requirements of the judgment, and based on the A.S.’s lawsuit, the RA Administrative Court sent an enforcement sheet to the Compulsory Enforcement Service of the Republic of Armenia.

On 7 October, 2021, on the basis of the decision issued on the administrative case No. VD/1362/05/18, 2,520,157 AMD was confiscated from the RA Ministry in favor of A.S. through compulsory enforcement. Part of the amount of money confiscated was the amount of the officer’s unpaid salary for working on non-working Saturdays. The other part was the amount unreasonably collected by the RA Ministry of Defense during the officer’s demobilization. The court obliged the RA Ministry of Defense to recalculate, as during the demobilization they could charge money from A.S. only for food, while the Ministry also charged the amount of money for food service. As a result of the recalculation, the amount charged for the above-mentioned service was returned to the citizen.