Ղամբարյան Արթուր 021
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THE CLOSED LIST OF GROUNDS FOR TERMINATING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AND THE STRATEGIES FOR ITS "OPENING"
GHAMBARYAN ARTHUR
Head of the Chair of Theory of Law and Constitutional Law,
Russian-Armenian University,
Professor at the Public Administration Academy of the Republic of Armenia,
Doctor of Law, Professor, Honored Lawyer of the Republic of Armenia
Abstract․ The article examines the nature of the legislative closed list (numerus clausus) of grounds for terminating criminal prosecution, the possibility of its "opening," and the strategies for incorporating new grounds. The exhaustive nature of the list enshrined in Part 1 of Article 12 of the RA Criminal Procedure Code is analyzed, along with the resulting presumption of the legislator's conscious silence, which prohibits considering any circumstance not expressly provided in the list as a basis for terminating prosecution.
The author discusses situations arising in law enforcement practice where there is an objective need to expand this list. For this purpose, two main strategies are considered: the doctrines of contra legem and extra legem development of law. The analysis is based on the decisions of the RA Court of Cassation and the RA Constitutional Court, particularly the legal positions formed in cases related to criminal prosecution of persons entitled to immunity.
Special attention is paid to cases where criminal proceedings were initiated by an unauthorized subject or where the record of initiating proceedings is absent. The procedural consequences of such violations and the ways to overcome them are discussed, ranging from recognizing the evidence as inadmissible to "opening" the closed list of grounds for terminating criminal prosecution and establishing a new ground.
Key words: termination of criminal prosecution, closed list, numerus clausus, contra legem, extra legem, legislator's conscious silence, development of law, immunity, record of initiating proceedings, delimitation of jurisdiction.