With 86 “for” and 6 “against”, the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia fully adopted the draft Law of the Republic of Armenia “On military service and status of military serviceman” by a second readin.

Before the voting, Deputy of the faction of “Yelq” (Way Out) Party Ararat Mirzoyan announced that the faction was going to vote against the draft law. The Republican Party of Armenia, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun and Tsarukyan bloc voted for the draft law.

The right of being exempt from mandatory military service on the ground of having a scientific ranking has been removed from the list of grounds for deferment from mandatory military service. At the same time, prior to entry into force of the Law, the specified right shall be maintained for persons having been deferred for PhD studies until 31 December 2020.

The right to deferment for continuing studies has been removed from the list of grounds for deferment and has been replaced by the right to deferment for purposeful studies, namely for persons studying under the Bachelor’s Program, the specialized diploma or integrated educational programs and for persons having concluded a contract with the Ministry of Defense who would like to undergo military training during studies and, after the end of studies, will conclude a contract with the Ministry of Defense on completing service as a contractual officer for a three-year period in the place and under the conditions specified by the Ministry of Defense. “The details will be defined by the secondary legal acts prescribed by the government.”

For the purpose of ensuring transparency and justice and in order to avoid potential risks, extensive amendments will be made in the process of examination of the health conditions and medical expert examination of persons to be drafted and military servicemen, within the scope of which the procedures for examination and expert examination and the list of diseases that may cause problems with military service will be established by a decision of the government.