The Civil Court of Appeal declared the witness testimonies inadmissible

• 2017-09-25

The representative of the plaintiff Hayk Sahakyan submitted a claim by which he stated the following:

Starting from 2008, the plaintiff has transferred to the respondent a total sum of $ 20 170, provided, the latter would return that money. From that amount the respondent returned only $ 4 800 through a wire transfer. Receipts on money transfers were presented to the court as evidence. Based on those facts the plaintiff claimed $ 15.370.

            The respondent accepted the fact that she had received money transfers from the plaintiff, but argued that the money was transferred in the form of financial support, i.e. it was not a loan. According to the respondent, part of the transferred amount was returned to the plaintiff and the remaining amount was kept by her as a gift.

            The Court of First Instance of Avan and Nor-Nork Administrative District, (presided over by Judge A. Petrosyan), rejected the claim. The court concluded that the money had been transferred in the form of financial support and, therefore, could not be claimed back. It is worth drawing attention to the fact that the court had established that fact solely based on the testimony of witnesses.

            The claimant appealed the decision to the Civil Court of Appeal which overturned the decision of the lower court and ruled in favor of the claimant.

            The Court of Appeal ruled inadmissible the testimony of witnesses upon which the respondent had relied for their arguments and concluded that there was no evidence to prove that the purpose of money transfer had been to financially support the respondent.