ARMENIA | Administrative fines for not wearing face mask or failure to wear it properly are acquiring a punitive nature

The conduct of the police with regard to fining persons for not wearing a mask or failure to wear it properly and their apprehension to police departments become concerning and, from a systemic point of view, result in incorrect developments.

Evidentially, the aim of the requirement of wearing a mask as an individual protective measure is the prevention of or the fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The activities of any state authority or official with legal functions in that regard should be directed toward this fundamental objective.

The current police practice of apprehending a person for not wearing a mask or for failure to wear it properly or, in other words, depriving a person of liberty and of imposing an administrative fine, takes unacceptable forms.

In an official statement the Human Rights Defender criticises that the minimal rights for an apprehended person or a person deprived of liberty are not ensured and that the mandatory requirement for properly informing about reasons for deprivation of liberty is violated. The Ombudsman further notes that cases of unlawful conduct of a police officer approaching a citizen, uncertainties in communications with citizens, apprehensions in an unacceptable manner, and cases of disproportional use of force are recorded.

On the other hand, it is obvious that police officers themselves have become the "legal victims" of the existing uncertain regulations. The legislation in this area never attained the required level of certainty and predictability for both the citizen and police officers. There should be detailed rules or guidelines for police officers with regard to their work under the conditions of the coronavirus pandemic.

All these observations are based on the complaints addressed to the Human Rights Defender, the Ombudsman’s visits to Police Departments, as well as the results of these observations. For more details, please see the full statement of the Human Rights Defender further down below.

Source: Office of the Human Rights Defender, Armenia