The government is proposing amendments to the Land Code, according to which, from now on, the Mother See will be granted communal and state land for the construction and maintenance of churches not for free use, but only with the right of free use. A corresponding draft law has been included on the agenda of the government meeting on December 25, according to Azatutyun.
The justification for the draft law does not indicate the reasons for these changes. This was also noted by the Ministry of Justice during interagency discussions, emphasizing that “the presented justification does not fully assess the feasibility of adopting the draft law, as there is a lack of appropriate analysis of the current situation, problems, the purpose of the regulation, and the expected outcome.”
The draft law was developed by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, which based this provision on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s recommendation, made at the April 2023 consultation in Tavush, to discuss the advisability of restrictions on the transfer of ownership rights to land plots occupied by public pastures. According to the Ministry of Justice, the aforementioned draft does not in any way affect these provisions. Following comments from the Ministry of Justice, this section was excluded from the draft’s justification.
The provisions adopted by the government cannot be applied to lands transferred to the Holy See to date. Essentially, the government will no longer grant ownership rights and lands to the Armenian Apostolic Church, but will instead conclude a gratuitous use agreement with the rights, obligations, and conditions of the parties.