News
133rd plenary session of the Venice Commission: New opinions prepared under the Quick Response Mechanism adopted
At its 133rd plenary session (held on 16-17 December 2022), the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe adopted, among others: the amicus curiae brief for the Constitutional Court of Armenia on certain questions related to the Law on Confiscation of Property of Illicit Origin; held an exchange...
Study visit of Azerbaijani Ministry of Justice to Portugal
On 14-16 December 2022 the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) organised in cooperation with the Portuguese Order of solicitors and enforcement agents a three-days study visit for members of the Directorate General of Enforcement of the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan. The...
Taking a Case to the European Court of Human Rights: Armenian version of the book will help the legal practitioners to make their voices heard in a well-substantiated manner
Successful litigation at the European Court of Human Rights is not an easy task and requires from legal professionals some fundamental knowledge about the peculiarities of the application to the Court. Publication of the Armenian version of the book Taking a Case to the European Court of Human...
Presentation of HELP platform on the occasion of National Day of Lawyers in Armenia
On 8 December 2022, to mark the National Lawyers’ Day celebrated on 6 December in Armenia, the regional project on "Strengthening the Profession of Lawyer in Line with European Standards", in cooperation with Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) programme and the Chamber of...
The Council of Europe keeps on working with judges on better application of the European Convention on Human Rights standards while adjudication of criminal cases
In co-operation with the High School of Justice, the Council of Europe and the European Union organised another series of seminars to familiarise judges with the latest case-law of the Supreme Court of Georgia and the European Court of Human Rights related to domestic violence, admissibility of...
Website of the Court of Cassation of Armenia launched and available online for public
A website of the Armenian Court of Cassation was developed with the support of the Council of Europe and is available online since November 2022. The Council of Europe has been working closely with the Armenian judiciary to facilitate the effective implementation of European human rights...
Lawyers and judges discussed the ways to improve their professional interaction
On 25 November an online event - joint meeting of judges and lawyers was organised to discuss the implementation of Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) Opinion no. 16 of 2013 on the relations between judges and lawyers. The event gathered participants from Armenia, Georgia, the...
CEPEJ mission to the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan to assess the case management, processing of cases and e-filing
From 23 to 25 November, the European Commission for the efficiency of justice (CEPEJ) conducted an experts’ mission in Baku with the aim to assess the work efficiency of the Supreme Court. A report with recommendations on the improvement of the case management, processing of cases and e-filing...
EU and Council of Europe supported conference in Tbilisi to discuss areas for further improvement and ongoing reform of the criminal justice legal framework in Georgia
Protection of victims’ and other vulnerable persons’ rights, the system of pre-trial measures and conduct of investigative actions are the areas which should be paid special attention to during the ongoing criminal justice reform in Georgia, underlined participants of the high-level conference...
Discussion on the Opinion No. 24 (2021) of the CCJE on the evolution of the Councils for the Judiciary and their role in independent and impartial judicial systems
To highlight the competence, tasks, organisation and composition as well as resources at the disposal of the Councils for the Judiciary the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) adopted landmark Opinion No. 24 in 2021. The Opinion discusses the legitimacy and accountability of the...
Study visit of Georgian courts to The Netherlands
On 25-27 October 2022, the Council of Europe European Commission for the efficiency of justice (CEPEJ) organised a three-days study visit of Georgian court managers from the Supreme Court of Georgia, Zugdidi and Rustavi Regional Courts and Tbilisi Court to the courts of Amsterdam, The Hague and...
CEPEJ visited Baku with the aim to analyse the provision of mediation services in Azberbaijan
From 17 to 19 October 2022, the European Commission for the efficiency of justice (CEPEJ) conducted a fact-finding mission in Baku with the aim to analyse the current situation and discuss how to provide support for improving mediation based on CEPEJ Guidelines and various tools dealing with...
Judiciary of the Court of Cassation of Armenia continue enhancing their knowledge and skills on the new criminal legislation of the country
Judges, experts and judicial assistants of the Court of Cassation of Armenia participated in the two-day workshop on “Selected issues of new Criminal (CC) and Criminal Procedure Codes (CPC) of Armenia” organised on 5-6 October in Yerevan. The objective of the workshop was to introduce the...
Investigators and prosecutors of Armenia enhanced their knowledge and skills on the new criminal and procedural legislation of Armenia
In co-operation with the Justice Academy in Yerevan, four two-day training seminars on “Selected issues of the new Criminal (CC) and Criminal Procedure (CPC) Codes of Armenia” were organised for investigators and prosecutors of Armenia in July and August 2022. The objective of the training...
Staff of the Representative of the Republic of Armenia before the European Court of Human Right enhanced their knowledge and skills on the new criminal legislation of Armenia
During the two-day training seminar on “Selected issues of new Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes of Armenia,” 16 participants had the opportunity to acquire new skills on judicial review, peculiarities of conducting certain types of proceedings, judicial safeguards of pre-trial proceedings,...
Summer School on Arbitration
Students from various universities of Armenia had the opportunity to get first-hand insights into the world of arbitration during the 4-day Summer School on Arbitration co-organised by the Council of Europe and Arbitrators’ Association of Armenia. Taught by the leading arbitration practitioners...
Guides on the new Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes of Armenia ready for the national legal professionals as the new legislation enters into force
The Council of Europe has been working closely with the Armenian authorities on the criminal justice reform through legislative, methodological, and capacity-building support since 2015. Based on the legal expertise of the Council of Europe, conceptually new Criminal Code and Code of Criminal...
Ensuring high-quality trainings on the new criminal justice legislation in Armenia by equipping trainers locally
15 national trainers got equipped with tools and techniques on adult learning methodology. The objective is to ensure high quality trainings on the new criminal justice legislation, as well as to guide trainers to link the newly acquired knowledge with their practical experience and further...
Expert discussion on the right of access to court for persons being declared as legally incapable as a result of mental disorder
On 17 and 18 June 2022, the President and the judges of the Court of Cassation, Supreme Judicial Council member, Representation of Armenia on International Legal matters, representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the Human Rights Defender’s office, the Ministry of Health, the Guardianship and...
Legal professionals in Azerbaijan get trained on collection and analysis of court statistics
In co-operation with the Justice Academy of Azerbaijan, two online training sessions on improving the efficiency and quality of courts based on the tools and guidelines developed by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ). These trainings aimed to deepen the knowledge on...
High-level Conference “The Judiciary as a Guardian of Democracy”
The conference co-organised with the Constitutional Court of Armenia on 8-9 June in Yerevan, served as a platform to facilitate the dialogue between the Constitutional Court, courts of general jurisdiction and other branches of power, alongside with the international community and civil society....
Human rights training methodology for legal professionals now available in Armenian
The HELP Methodology Guidebook on Human Rights Training for Legal Professionals is now available in Armenian. It provides a step-by-step analysis of the various stages of the methodology and describes the roles of the HELP Secretariat, the network members and the tutors in the training process....
Investigators of Armenia enhanced their knowledge and skills on the new criminal and procedural legislation of Armenia
Five two-day training seminars on "Selected issues of new Criminal (CC) and Criminal Procedure Codes (CPC) of Armenia" were organised for 125 investigators of Armenia from April till June 2022 in the Justice Academy in Yerevan. During the first half of the seminars, the participants learnt about...
Legal professionals in Armenia trained on Ethics for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers
A group of 23 legal professionals are trained in co-operation with the Justice Academy of Armenia on ethics for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers. The Council of Europe HELP online course used for the training has been translated into Armenian, adapted to the Armenian context and is piloted in the...
Judiciary of the Court of Cassation of Armenia enhance their knowledge and skills on the new criminal procedure legislation of the country
Judges, experts and judicial assistants of the Court of Cassation of Armenia participated in the one-day workshop “Selected issues of new Criminal Procedure Code of Armenia” organised on 28 April in Yerevan. During the first two sessions, the participants discussed evidence, proving as well as...
Round table discussion on the draft Judicial and Legal Reforms Strategy for 2022-2026 of the Republic of Armenia with the participation of the judiciary
Members of the Supreme Judicial Council, Presidents and judges from different court instances both from Yerevan and regions of Armenia, and the Ministry of Justice representatives discussed the draft Judicial and Legal Reforms Strategy for 2022-2026 of the Republic of Armenia.The event was...
Round table discussion on the Decision SJC-65-VO-165 (30 August 2021) of the Supreme Judicial Council of the Republic of Armenia ''On prescribing benchmark periods of the average duration of case examination as per individual types and complexity of cases''
Members of the Supreme Judicial Council of the Republic of Armenia, Presidents and judges from different court instances both from Yerevan and regions of Armenia, and the Ministry of Justice representatives discussed the Decision SJC-65-VO-165 (30 August 2021) of the Supreme Judicial Council of...
Judges enhanced their knowledge and skills on the new criminal procedural legislation of Armenia
Four one-day seminars on “Selected issues of Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) of Armenia” were organised for 62 judges of Armenia in March and April 2022 in the Justice Academy in Yerevan. The judges improved their knowledge and skills on topics such as evidence, proving, arrest and measures of...
Round table discussion on the application of mediation in Armenia
Mediators, lawyers and judges from different court instances and Ministry of Justice representatives, discussed the Mediation Development Toolkit (also available in Armenian) presented by a Council of Europe expert on 29 March 2022. The event allowed an exchange on the current challenges in the...
Judicial staff in the Republic of Moldova enhanced their knowledge on remedies in cases of discrimination
98 employees of the judicial system in the country, strengthened their knowledge on national and international remedies in cases of discrimination through an online training. The event held on 16 March, focused on the international legal framework and the case law of the European Court of Human...