ArmInfo. Armenia is attempting to resolve issues related to missing servicemen and volunteers at the legislative level. At its January 16 session, the National Assembly’s Defense and Security Committee approved the first reading of the draft law “On Persons Missing as a Result of Military Actions” and a package of related laws submitted by the RA government.
According to RA Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan, relations related to missing persons are currently not regulated by law. They are partially regulated by the Civil Code, the Law “On Military Service and the Status of a Serviceman,” the Law “On Compensation for Damage Caused to the Life or Health of a Serviceman During the Defense of the Republic of Armenia,” government decrees, and an order of the Minister of Defense. Overall, these legal norms only superficially address the legal relations under consideration. Moreover, one or another provision of the above-mentioned legal acts mainly determines the possibility of receiving certain social support by family members of missing persons.
Galyan noted that various legal acts contain references to missing persons and their family members, but these provisions are incomplete, often containing only references to other laws. Furthermore, given the incompleteness of existing regulations, it is often difficult for potential beneficiaries to even obtain information about a particular social guarantee or privilege, as well as the procedures for providing it. Therefore, the need arose for a separate legal act to be developed.
Specifically, it is proposed to consider as missing any military personnel or volunteers, regardless of citizenship, who went missing during military operations, or while on combat duty, or while performing special tasks on the line of contact with the enemy, or during a declared ceasefire, or during a six-month period following military operations in peacetime. A missing person report must be submitted within 72 hours of receiving the last information about them. Family members of a missing person will be considered to be their husband, wife, child, parent, grandfather, grandmother, grandchild, brother, or sister. Search efforts will commence based on the submitted application, with information about the search reported to the authorized body every 15 days. The document provides for not only financial assistance to family members of the missing person but also emotional and psychological support.
The bill provides for the creation of a unified electronic registry of missing persons, which will contain all information. The applicant will be the person who submits an application to search for a person whose fate and whereabouts are unknown. The beneficiary of social support will be the person entitled to compensation and state assistance. The National Security Service will be the authorized body for searching for missing persons.