Title: Immunity for a healthy democracy: the critical role of parliamentary immunity

Authors: Naira Hovhannisyan; Artak Ghazaryan

Addresses: Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia, 10 Marshal Baghramyan Avenue, Yerevan 0019, Armenia ' Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia, 10 Marshal Baghramyan Avenue, Yerevan 0019, Armenia

Abstract: The immunity of a deputy is an important guarantee of the realisation of the personalised and impersonal political will of the people. The article highlights the relationship between the institution of parliamentary immunity and the realisation of the political will of the people. The article also considers the institution of parliamentary immunity as an important guarantee that prevents the transition from the immanent feature of democracy 'the rule of the majority' to the anti-democratic 'tyranny of the majority'. This article discusses the importance of the institution of a deputy, and some solutions are proposed aimed at making the process of depriving a deputy of immunity more focal. The article proposes to remove the process of depriving the immunity of the deputy from the logic of the issue solved by the political decision of the majority, proposing certain objective criteria for depriving the immunity of the deputy.

Keywords: inviolability; democracy; majority rule; tyranny of majority; depersonalised political will; personalised political will.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLAP.2026.150303

International Journal of Public Law and Policy, 2026 Vol.12 No.1, pp.79 - 93

Received: 11 Mar 2024
Accepted: 16 Jun 2024
Published online: 08 Dec 2025 *

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