The Principle of Ne Bis in Idem in Armenia’s New Criminal Procedure Code: European Standards, Domestic Implementation, and Interpretive Risks

The prohibition of repeated criminal prosecution or punishment for the same act - traditionally expressed as ne bis in idem - is both a guarantee of fair trial and an institutional rule of finality of criminal prosecution. This article examines the way in which the principle is incorporated into Article 25 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia and evaluates whether that provision and its implementation are compatible with Article 4 of Protocol No. 7 to the European Convention on Human Rights and with the relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The article argues that the Armenian rule generally follows the Convention model, but its practical application depends on several interpretive distinctions: the difference between a procedural refusal to initiate prosecution and a merit-based determination of criminal responsibility; the distinction between public and private prosecution; and the treatment of administrative or disciplinary sanctions that are, in Convention terms, criminal in substance. On this basis, the article proposes a structured judicial test for Armenian courts and investigative bodies. The central recommendation is that Article 25 should be interpreted through the combined lenses of finality of the prosecution, substantive identity of facts, autonomous criminal character of the act, and the existence of a sufficiently integrated response where parallel proceedings are permitted.