Extradition Lawyer in Yerevan: Yerevan First-Instance Courts and the Local Procedure

In Yerevan, where the applicable treaty does not provide otherwise, Armenia’s 2024 Law assigns the extradition decision to the Prosecutor General at the foreign pre-trial stage and to the Minister of Justice when the foreign case is before a court or a conviction exists. A challenge to that decision is normally filed in Yerevan within 10 days after receipt. Detention motions instead go to the court for the place of apprehension, which may be in Armavir Region after an arrest at Zvartnots.

Which Yerevan institutions handle the local procedure?

The current starting point is Armenia’s Law “On Legal Assistance in Criminal Proceedings” (Armenian title: “Քրեական վարույթներով իրավական օգնության մասին”), adopted on 15 November 2024 and effective from 12 December 2024. Articles 32 and 34 set the decision-maker and review route; older online summaries may describe the former procedure, which can still govern pre-12 December 2024 relationships under Article 95.

A transition rule matters for older matters. Article 95 applies the 2024 Law to legal-assistance relationships arising after its entry into force on 12 December 2024. For relationships that arose before that date, Article 95(2) preserves Chapters 54, 54.1, 54.2, 54.3 and 54.4 of the former Criminal Procedure Code. If the relevant legal-assistance relationship may predate 12 December 2024, do not assume the deadlines below apply; have Armenian counsel identify the governing regime before calculating any deadline.

Institution	Role and location
Prosecutor General’s Office (ՀՀ գլխավոր դատախազություն)	Decides at the foreign pre-trial stage. Its official central listing gives 5 Vazgen Sargsyan Street, Yerevan. Article 32 refers to the central office, not merely the Yerevan City Prosecutor’s Office.
Ministry of Justice (ՀՀ արդարադատության նախարարություն)	Decides when the foreign case is in court or a conviction exists. Its official contact page gives 3/8 Vazgen Sargsyan Street, Yerevan.
Yerevan first-instance criminal court (Երևան քաղաքի առաջին ատյանի ընդհանուր իրավասության քրեական դատարան)	Normally receives the first challenge to a decision by a central authority in Yerevan. The Judiciary’s current site lists the Yerevan first-instance criminal court; confirm the registry and assigned judge from the case papers.
Criminal Court of Appeal (ՀՀ վերաքննիչ քրեական դատարան) and Court of Cassation (ՀՀ վճռաբեկ դատարան)	Hear the next statutory stages. The filing windows are short and run from receipt of the preceding decision.
Armavir Region first-instance court of general jurisdiction (Արմավիրի մարզի առաջին ատյանի ընդհանուր իրավասության դատարան)	May handle an initial detention motion following an arrest at Zvartnots Airport, which is near Parakar in Armavir Region, west of Yerevan.

The Prosecutor General’s Office and Ministry of Justice are central authorities; the Yerevan City Prosecutor’s Office is a different institution. Identify the issuer of the written decision before choosing a court.

Why the place of arrest may differ from the place of the final appeal

Under Article 34(2), a challenge to a decision permitting or refusing extradition is filed in the first-instance court of general jurisdiction at the decision-maker’s location. Because the central Prosecutor General’s Office and Ministry of Justice are in Yerevan, review of their decisions normally starts in the Yerevan first-instance court.

Detention motions follow a different rule: Articles 43–44 direct the motion to the court for the place where the person was apprehended. Zvartnots Airport is near Parakar in Armavir Region, about 15 km west of Yerevan, not inside Yerevan city. An arrest there may therefore lead to an initial detention motion in the Armavir Region court, while a later Article 34 challenge to a central authority’s final decision ordinarily goes to Yerevan. Confirm the actual arrest location and court assignment from the record.

A detention order, a decision permitting surrender, and the actual handover are separate events. A complaint about one does not automatically preserve the deadline for another.

What should happen in the first 72 hours after an arrest?

This is a practical action plan, not a promise of a hearing at a particular hour. Article 40(6) requires release if no court order imposing detention has been made within 72 hours of arrest; that is not a deadline for completing the extradition case. If the foreign case is already before a court or a conviction exists, Article 43(3) also requires the competent Justice Ministry authority to send its position and supporting documents to the Prosecutor General’s Office and the inquiry body within 60 hours of arrest. If the person does not speak or sufficiently understand Armenian, is a minor, or says they cannot afford counsel, Article 22 requires the authority to initiate appointment of a lawyer through the Chamber of Advocates; the person must first be offered the opportunity to invite a lawyer of their choice. Tell the authority immediately.

When	Action	Local reason
Immediately	Request a lawyer and interpreter if needed; obtain the reason for arrest and record the exact time and place.	The recorded place of apprehension helps identify the court for a detention motion. At Zvartnots, do not assume it is in Yerevan city.
As soon as counsel is contacted	Request the arrest record, detention order, foreign warrant or request, and Armenian authority’s documents. Ask for translations of documents the person cannot understand.	The law provides for counsel and, where applicable, an interpreter in detention proceedings.
By 72 hours	Check whether a court has ordered detention. If not, ask counsel to seek release under Article 40(6).	The 72-hour rule concerns custody after apprehension, not the final extradition decision.
Before provisional detention expires	Track the arrest date and provisional-detention order. Check the applicable treaty and Article 43.	Article 43 generally allows temporary detention for up to 40 days to receive the formal request, unless an applicable treaty sets another period. Where the 1957 European Convention on Extradition applies, Armenia’s declaration under Article 16(4) requires provisional arrest to end if the request and Article 12 documents have not arrived within one month after arrest.

What can the detention judge decide?

Articles 43 and 44 send temporary-detention and extradition-detention motions to the court for the place of apprehension. Extradition detention is initially ordered for two months. Under Article 45, extensions may each last no more than two months; total extradition detention cannot exceed 10 months. The Law separately limits the overall period of custody under the relevant provisions to 11 months and 10 days, subject to statutory exceptions.

These are maximum limits, not an automatic entitlement to detain someone for that long. The court reviews the materials and may refuse detention where a statutory bar to extradition is apparent. But the detention hearing is not a trial of guilt and does not re-litigate the legality or merits of documents issued by the requesting state. Counsel should present relevant Armenian-law and treaty issues to the proper decision-maker.

How is a final decision to permit extradition challenged?

Article 34 sets a short, staged review route. The clock starts when the written decision is received. Keep the envelope, delivery record, electronic notification or signed acknowledgment; do not calculate the deadline from a relative’s call or the date counsel was instructed.

Step	Deadline and trigger	Route
First instance	10 days after receiving the decision.	File in the first-instance court of general jurisdiction at the decision-maker’s location; for the central authorities described above, normally Yerevan.
Appeal	5 days after receiving the first-instance decision.	The Court of Appeal reviews the first-instance decision.
Cassation	5 days after receiving the appellate decision.	The Court of Cassation considers the statutory review, subject to its filing requirements.
Authority’s file	3 days after the authority is notified of the complaint.	The authority must send the court documents supporting the legality and justification of its decision.

The first-instance and appellate hearings are oral and closed. The person participates if they request participation; their lawyer participates if involved. Each court must decide within five days of receiving the complaint. Under Article 34(7), review tests compliance with Armenian law and the applicable treaty, not guilt or the merits of the foreign case. The court may dismiss the complaint or set the decision aside.

Which deadlines apply to appeals against detention?

There are two distinct routes. Under Article 42, the person, their legal representative or lawyer may challenge the legality of the arrest in the first-instance court for the place of arrest within 15 days after the person was actually deprived of liberty. The resulting court order may be challenged under Article 48, which has its own deadlines. Separately, Article 48 allows an appeal against specified first-instance arrest and detention decisions to the Court of Appeal within five days after receipt; that court completes review within five days after receiving the materials. A cassation complaint against the appellate decision may be filed within 15 days after receipt, and the Court of Cassation completes review within 15 days after receiving the required materials. These deadlines differ from Article 34’s five-day cassation window for a final-decision challenge.

For the country-wide procedure, see Extradition from Armenia: How the Procedure Works. Statutory refusal grounds, treaty-assurance questions and detailed remedies belong to the separate guide to stopping extradition from Armenia; they should be assessed under the 2024 Law and the treaty that applies to the particular request.

What should family members and foreign counsel prepare?

Full name, birth details, nationality or nationalities, passport and identity documents.
Exact arrest time and place, arresting body if known, detention orders and court reference number.
All Armenian authority documents and proof of when and how the decision was received; Article 34 runs from receipt.
The foreign warrant, judgment or request with translations. A Red Notice is not the final Armenian surrender decision; preserve its details and check INTERPOL notice information.
Medical records, medication details, interpreter needs, consular contacts and evidence of urgent risk. Keep a dated document list.
Before visiting, confirm current booking and identification rules with the authority or facility.

The place of detention can depend on the arrest and the order made. Before arranging a visit, confirm the actual facility from the arrest record and with the responsible authority. The Judiciary lists both Yerevan’s first-instance criminal court and the Armavir Region first-instance court; use the case papers to identify the registry.

Hypothetical: a traveller stopped at Zvartnots

Hypothetical example. A Georgian national is arrested at Zvartnots on a foreign request. The family records the airport as the place of apprehension and obtains the custody papers. Because the airport is near Parakar in Armavir Region, the initial detention motion may go to the Armavir Region first-instance court under Articles 43–44. If the Prosecutor General later permits extradition at the pre-trial stage, an Article 34 challenge is normally filed in Yerevan within 10 days of receipt. Counsel must verify the actual authority, order and dates.

What must be checked before filing?

Identify the foreign-case stage and whether the document is an arrest or detention order, an extradition decision, or a handover notice. Check the treaty between Armenia and the requesting state. Armenia has been party to the 1957 European Convention on Extradition since 25 April 2002, subject to registered reservations and declarations; applicability and protocols depend on the states involved. The EU’s official list of 27 Member States does not include Armenia; do not assume the European Arrest Warrant procedure or its deadlines apply to a request in Armenia.

The official Armenian text of the 2024 Law controls. Before filing, Armenian-qualified counsel should verify the current wording of the decision and the applicable treaty, because a deadline may expire before the family receives the full file.

Questions families often ask

Does an arrest at Zvartnots automatically make the Yerevan court competent?

No. Detention motions are linked to the place of apprehension, and Zvartnots is near Parakar in Armavir Region. A challenge to the final extradition decision uses Article 34’s separate rule tied to the location of the authority that issued it.

Can the court decide whether the person committed the foreign offence?

No. Article 34 limits review to whether the Armenian authority’s decision complies with Armenian law and the applicable treaty. The detention hearing also is not a trial of guilt.

Is the 10-day period counted from the arrest?

For the Article 34 challenge, the period runs from receipt of the authority’s written decision. Detention appeals have their own triggers and shorter or different deadlines; obtain each order and its receipt date.

Does a Red Notice itself authorize extradition?

A Red Notice is an INTERPOL request to locate and provisionally arrest a person; it is not itself an international arrest warrant or the Armenian authority’s final extradition decision. The local arrest and detention procedure still has to be followed.

Sources and official information

The site’s team coordinates cross-border defence with local counsel. To request an initial review of the documents and deadlines, use the contact request page.