Artavazd Sahakyan, a resident of Yerevan, has lodged a complaint against the Lori Marzpet’s Office with the court of first instance of the communities of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun, but the judge on the case, Alvard Hunanyan, has drawn out the trial endlessly, for reasons no one can understand. Sahakyan brought the action seeking damages for negligence against the Lori Marzpet’s Office on March 24, 2003, after his daughter was injured by falling rock. Judge Hunanyan ruled to reject the complaint on June 2, 2003 - two and a half month later. Meanwhile, the court should have completed the consideration of the case within this period of time. According to Clause 2 of Article 92 of the Civil Code of Armenia, a court must decide to reject a complaint within three days of its submission.

Judge Alvard Hunanyan says that the decision rejecting the complaint had been issued within the required period, but dated incorrectly, as a result of a computer misprint. The complaint was returned on the grounds that Artavazd Sahakyan had not presented any evidence supporting his claim. At the same time, the judge noted that although the case is within the jurisdiction of the court near the plaintiff’s place of residence, “based on the features of the case it should be considered by a court near the residence of the respondent,” - that is, by the court in the Lori marz. Sahakyan challenged the judge’s ruling with the Chairman of the Court, who, he says, promised to consider the case within ten days. After the appeal, the ruling rejecting the complaint was reviewed and a decision was issued in favor of the plaintiff. Moreover, the same judge- Alvard Hunanyan --allowed the appeal based on the documents that the plaintiff had presented at the very outset, notwithstanding that in her earlier ruling she had written, “Artavazd Sahakyan had not presented the court with any evidence supporting his claim.”

On March 25, 2000, Artavazd Sahakyan’s daughter, 14 year-old Natalya Sahakyan was seriously injured while driving with her father in his friend Gagik Aslanyan’s car on the Dzaghidzor-Marts highway in Lori. A large rock fell onto the car from the hill near the highway, crushing the car and injuring the girl. Natalya Sahakyan’s cranium was fractured and she was unconscious for five days, but fortunately, thanks to an operation, her life was saved. She is expected to undergo further plastic surgery. Her father says that as a result of the accident, Natalya had even forgotten the alphabet and was not able to continue her studies in school with other children her age.

Before bringing his action, Sahakyan first went to the marzpet of Lori, since the highway belongs to the Marzpet’s Office, which is required to ensure road safety. But, according to Sahakyan his petition was not accepted, and Marzpet Henrik Kochinyan just said, “I am not a businessman, go to the law”. A letter from the Minister of Justice makes it clear that “damage caused to a person or his or her property is subject to full recovery by the person who caused it, and the issue of the reparation of damages directly depends on the fact of the guilt of the person who caused the damage.” It took Sahakyan two years to find the “person who caused the damage”, and he managed to do so only with the help of the Iravunk Weekly Newspaper. Reporters at the weekly found out from the Ministry of Transport and Communications that the section of the highway belongs to the Lori Marzpet’s Office.

The representative of the Marzpet’s Office present in court admitted in the end that they are responsible for the safety of the road. They have even presented draft budget for building a support wall, removing rocks, and performing other construction, but they haven’t been able to do the work since no money has been allocated. They admit that there are frequent, sometimes fatal, accidents on this stretch of road.

After considering all the documents which had been attached to the complaint from the very beginning, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, and if the ruling is not appealed within 15 days, it will provide for 405,000 Drams (about $692) to be paid against the damage caused to Sahakyan. Another 420,000 Drams (about $718) will be paid by the Marzpet’s Office in damages to Gagik Aslanyan, the owner of the car.

Sona Mashuryan