What are the challenges faced by the Armenian criminal justice system? How can the application of European human rights standards in this field be improved at the national level?

These are core issues of the new European Union /Council of Europe Project “Supporting the criminal justice reform and combating ill-treatment and impunity in Armenia” that will be launched on Wednesday, 30 September 2015 at 9:15 a.m. in “Ararat” conference room of the Marriott hotel.

High-level officials will contribute to this event, including Mr Gevorg Kostanyan, General Prosecutor of the Republic of Armenia, Ms Arpine Hovhannisyan, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, Mr Piotr Switalski, Head of Delegation of European Union to Armenia, Ms Natalia Voutova, Head of Council of Europe Office in Yerevan and Mr Mikhail Lobov, Head of the Policy and Cooperation Department, Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law, Council of Europe.

This 24-month Project aims at strengthening the implementation of European human rights standards in Armenia. In particular, it is expected to improve the legislation on criminal matters and institutional mechanisms for combating ill-treatment in line with European human rights standards, to strengthen the capacity of the Justice Academy to train prosecutors and investigators on criminal justice and human rights and to improve the knowledge and skills of investigators on criminal justice and human rights, including effective investigations of ill-treatment cases.

With a total budget of €500,000, it is part of the European Union and the Council of Europe’s Partnership Cooperation Framework in the Eastern Partnership Countries for 2015-2017. The €33.8 million-worth co-operation agreement was signed last December to promote human rights, democracy and the rule of law in six Eastern Partnership countries, including Armenia.