Back in December 2025, T.S., a citizen of the Russian Federation, approached LSA Law Firm to challenge an administrative act issued by the Patrol Service of the Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, depriving T.S. of the right to drive motor vehicles for a period of one year.
Although there were several issues concerning the lawfulness of the administrative act, all of which were brought before the Administrative Court, one of the key issues was the application of the wrong part of the article providing for administrative liability, which the administrative authority sought to present as the result of a clerical error.
Having examined the complaint, the Administrative Court allowed it by its decision of 8 September 2026, declaring the contested administrative act invalid. Regarding the issue in question, the Administrative Court held as follows:
“… the conduct described in the decision, its legal classification, and the administrative penalty imposed must form an interconnected and internally consistent whole.
… the conduct described in the contested decision does not correspond to the definition of the offence set out in the legal provision cited therein, and the administrative penalty imposed is not provided for by the sanction prescribed in that provision. This discrepancy cannot be regarded as a mere technical clerical error, since parts 4 and 5 of Article 123.5 of the Code of the Republic of Armenia on Administrative Offences establish substantially different constituent elements of offences and legal consequences.
… the arguments submitted by the administrative authority during the judicial proceedings cannot alter the legal classification set out in the act. Any other approach would effectively result in the court reclassifying the conduct attributed to the Plaintiff and supplementing the legal basis of the contested decision in place of the administrative authority.”
