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From the systematic perspective last year 2 important decisions related to the institute of material compensation of moral damage were made. Armen Poghosyan, who was sentenced to 15 year imprisonment for the rape and murder of the minor and was justified in 5,5 years and received monetary compensation of 6 million AMD from Armenia, but didn’t receive moral compensation because of the lack of that institution in Armenia, applied to the European Court of Human Rights. 

 

ECHR made a precedential decision and said that the mere fact that the national legislation lacks the institute of moral compensation is on its own a violation of the Human Rights Convention. “This means that after the decision of the court our state has an obligation to think how to restore A. Poghosyan’s violated right: ECHR stated that the state should pay 30 thousand euro compensation and the state should create the condition for those cases not to be repeated”-A. Ghazaryan said. He said that Armenia has an obligation to add a provision to the civil code according to which the citizen has a right to demand for financial compensation of his/her moral damage. 

 

The case of “Khachatryan and others against Armenia” the decision of ECHR concerns several Jehovah's witnesses; they denied alternative military service, were subjected to prosecution and were later justified. They applied for the compensation of the moral damage, but weren’t able to resolve the issue in the state courts. ECHR stated that the mere fact of the absence of the institute of moral compensation is a violation of the convention. “Our state has no alternative rather than prescription of the right in the legislation, because if the state does not do that, the attorneys will” Ara Ghazaryan said adding that ECHR seeing that Armenian does not want to add the provision will increase the amount of compensation. “If the state does not comply with the decision of ECHR and the violation becomes systematic, ECHR increases the amount of compensation, it is a pressure means for the state to comply with the decision and eliminate violations”. 

 

A similar situation happened in Ukraine, when the state denied complying with the decision of ECHR, more precisely the use of violence in the detention and ECHR decided 430 thousand euro compensation for the applicants in the “Karapet and other against Ukraine” case. Prior to that case, the compensations against Ukraine were lower.