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Armenian Police Officers trained on equality and non-discrimination
A two-day event for police officers in Armenia improved their knowledge and understanding of equality and non-discrimination concepts in accordance with the European standards. The opening part of the training session was attended by the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan, by the...
Presenting European standards on national minorities in Armenia
A joint working discussion on the Draft law on national minorities, initiated by the Ministry of Justice of Armenia and the National Assembly Commission on Human Rights Protection and Public Relations of Armenia, supported by the European Union and the Council of Europe, brought together...
Further steps taken by the Regional Network of Eastern Partnership judicial training institutions for advancing women’s access to justice and gender mainstreaming in the justice chain
The second meeting of the Eastern Partnership Regional Network of judicial training institutions was held on 5 July 2024 in Strasbourg, as part of the HELP Network Annual Conference. The meeting gathered rectors, vice-rectors and heads of international co-operation departments from Eastern...
Combating hate speech in Armenia by empowering educational institutions
The Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia launched an important initiative to combat hate speech in educational institutions. An expected series of actions will empower educators and students by providing necessary tools and knowledge to stand against hate speech. This comes as...
139th Plenary session of the Venice Commission: New opinions prepared under the Quick Response Mechanism
At its 139th plenary session (held on 21-22 June 2024), the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe adopted, among others: Armenia Joint Opinion of the Venice Commission and the Directorate General of Democracy and Human Dignity on the draft law on national minorities. Republic of Moldova...
Strengthening police and civil society collaboration to combat racism in the Eastern Partnership and Western Balkan countries
In continuation of the joint efforts put in place by the European Union and the Council of Europe to enhance cross-regional collaboration to combat racism in the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership countries, a peer-to-peer exchange was organised in Skopje. This training brought together...
Armenian officials and law enforcement successfully completed advanced course on combating hate Speech
From 5 April to 30 May 2024, twelve representatives from Armenia's Ministry of Justice, the Human Rights Defender’s Office, and law enforcement agencies successfully completed an online course on combating hate speech. This course, focused on the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance...
High-level conference on strengthening the effectiveness of international co-operation in fighting transnational organised crime
The two-day international conference “Strengthening the effectiveness of international co-operation in fighting transnational organised crime”, served as a platform and an opportunity to share challenges prosecutors face in specific, complex cases, including those addressing the confiscation of...
The European Union and the Council of Europe continue supporting the Armenian authorities to implement reform priorities
The European Union and the Council of Europe together with representatives from the national authorities and beneficiary institutions, held the second Local Steering Committee meeting under the third phase of the Partnership for Good Governance. “Today’s meeting is a proof of excellent...
Fostering Diversity and inclusion with Young European Ambassadors in Armenia
Five Young European Ambassadors (YEAs) visited the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan to discuss ongoing activities and country-specific initiatives in the field of non-discrimination in Armenia. This included an in-depth exploration of the project “Promoting equality and non-discrimination in...
Young European Ambassadors sending a loud and clear message from Budapest: Say NO to hatred!
More than 50 Young European Ambassadors (YEAs) got introduced to methods on how to effectively address hate speech and discrimination. This will enable the YEAs to make a difference in their communities through the promotion of equality and diversity, ultimately contributing to combating hate...
137th Plenary session of the Venice Commission: New opinions prepared under the Quick Response Mechanism
At its 137th plenary session (held on 15-16 December 2023), the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe adopted, among others: Armenia Joint opinion of the Venice Commission and the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI) of the Council of Europe on the Concept Paper...
Judges and prosecutors in Armenia discussed various dimensions of criminal proceedings in absentia and confiscation of property of illicit origin
A series of discussions addressing crucial legal aspects related to criminal proceedings in absentia and the confiscation of property of illicit origin were held under the joint European Union and Council of Europe project “Support to the Justice Reform in Armenia”. In total, 90 specialists from...
Armenian equality body ready to respond to discrimination and hatred
A training programme on combating discrimination adapted to the staff needs of the Human Rights Defender's Office in Armenia, bolstered their capacities to respond to cases of discrimination and hatred in line with European standards, notably those developed by the European Commission against...
Empowering diversity through the inaugural session of the Public Council on National Minorities’ Rights in Armenia
The inaugural session of the Public Council on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Persons belonging to National Minorities (the Public Council), adjunct to the Human Rights Defender Office in Armenia, was held on 30 November 2023 in Yerevan. The event is perceived as a milestone,...
Supporting the launch of an awareness-raising initiative by the Armenian Ministry of Justice on the protection of whistleblowers
Financial support was provided to the Ministry of Justice of Armenia to launch an awareness raising initiative on the protection of whistleblowers. The Partnership for Good Governance project will work closely with the national authorities of the country, to support the implementation of several...
Mediation training programme advances skilled mediators in Armenia
The creation of a pool of highly skilled mediators is the aim of the mediation training programme organised for twenty prospective mediators. This is an initiative between the Council of Europe the Ministry of Justice in Armenia and the Arbitration and Mediation Centre of Armenia (AMCA). The...
Addressing hate speech issues for youngsters in Armenia
Teachers and youth workers from various regions of Armenia attended a training session that enabled exchanges of ideas on combating hate speech through human rights education. The training promoted Council of Europe tools destined to raise awareness among school children in Armenia on hate speech...
Combating hate speech through human rights education in Armenia
Two online training sessions on “Combating hate speech through human rights education” for educators and youth workers in Armenia, raised awareness on hate speech and on the importance of promoting a human rights education in their work, both in the formal and non-formal systems. The first online...
136th Plenary session of the Venice Commission: New opinions prepared under the Quick Response Mechanism
At its 136th plenary session (held on 6-7 October 2023), the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe adopted, among others: Armenia: the joint Opinion of the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR on the draft amendments to the Electoral Code and related legislation Republic of Moldova: the...
Young European Ambassadors in the forefront of the fight against hate speech
The new generation of the Young European Ambassadors continues to play a fundamental role in the fight against hate speech in the Western Balkan and the Eastern Partnership regions. In a series of online workshops, more than 50 Young Eurоpean Ambassadors completed the training programme on...
High-Level Conference on Prosecutorial Independence and Accountability Held in Yerevan
The Council of Europe in collaboration with the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Armenia organised a two-day high-level conference "Prosecutorial Independence in Upholding the Rule of Law". The aim of the conference was to facilitate a cohesive dialogue among main actors in the...
Round Table Discussion Explores Strategic Directions for Judicial and Legal Reforms in Armenia
A round table discussion that explored strategic directions of the Judicial and Legal Reforms in Armenia and the essential role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in driving the reform process, was held on 2-3 June. The round table's primary objective was to foster a more active involvement of...
The European Union and the Council of Europe to carry out joint projects for Armenia under the third phase of the Partnership for Good Governance (2023-2027)
New projects will be carried out in Armenia under the third phase of the EU/Council of Europe “Partnership for Good Governance (PGG)” programme in 2023-2027. The first Local Steering Committee meeting for these projects took place on Tuesday 23 May 2023, where the Delegation of the European Union...
Public discussions held under the framework of judicial reforms
Under the framework of ongoing judicial reforms, a series of public discussions related to the legislative amendments in respect to civil procedure, administrative procedure and criminal procedure legislations was organised by the joint EU/Council of Europe project “Support to the Justice Reform...
Improving financial investigations to better fight economic crime in Armenia
The Armenian authorities have set the fight against corruption and other economic crimes as a top national priority, and undertaken major legislative and institutional reforms in this direction. These include the establishment of a dedicated chain of Law enforcement and criminal justice...
Integrity Officers to support the application of Rules of Conduct by public servants in Armenia
Following the adoption of the Model Code of Conduct for Public Servants in Armenia in 2022, the Corruption Prevention Commission has moved on to actively promote its application by all public institutions of the country, with support from the Council of Europe. The steps undertaken for the...
Council of Europe concludes the four-year PGGII project on implementation of judicial reforms in Armenia
The final conference organised in Yerevan on February 21, marked the official completion of the Project "Implementation of the Judicial reforms in Armenia", implemented by the Council of Europe within the joint European Union and Council of Europe Partnership for Good Governance Programme...
Judges and prosecutors in Armenia enhanced their knowledge on combating hate speech
Twenty-five judges and prosecutors from Armenia have successfully completed the online training course on the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance’s General Policy Recommendation No.15 on Combating Hate Speech (GPR 15). The course, implemented from January to February 2023 consisted...
Armenian banks and payment institutions discuss risks related to virtual assets and how to address them
Representatives of the Central Bank of Armenia, including the Financial Monitoring Center of the Central Bank, and the private sector, in particular banks and payment institutions, participated in a workshop on “Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Risks related to Virtual Assets and the...
Eastern partnership countries discuss gender-related issues in the profession of lawyers
On 6 February an online event was organised to present the findings of the cross-country review of the impact of gender-related issues on the profession of lawyer and access to justice in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine. The event gathered 62 members of the Bar...
Manual on combating hate speech online supporting educators in Armenia
A “Manual on hate speech online for educators” in Armenian language was publicly presented in hybrid format, at the presence of representatives from the local schools, Yerevan municipality, Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport and representatives of Human Rights Defender’s office,...
An online course on combating hate speech for judges and prosecutors from Armenia was launched
The tutored online course on the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) General Policy Recommendation (GPR) No. 15 on combating hate speech was launched, with the participation of 18 judges and prosecutors in Armenia. The course hosted by the Council of Europe’s HELP...
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...
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...
Raising awareness on the rights of persons with disabilities in Armenia
On 14 December 2022 the regional EU/Council of Europe anti-discrimination project, part of the Partnership for Good Governance II 2019-2022, joined the Human Rights Defenders office of Republic of Armenia (HRDO), in a discussion focused on Combating discrimination based on disability and health...
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...
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...
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...
Workshop on risk-based regulation and supervision of the virtual assets sector in Armenia
Representatives of the Central Bank of Armenia, including the Financial Monitoring Centre within the Central Bank, participated in a workshop on risk-based Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regulation and supervision in the area of virtual assets, organised in...
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...
Discussion held on the review of the codes of conducts for lawyers
On 23 September an online event was organised to present the findings of the cross-country review of the codes of conducts of lawyers in Armenia, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine. The event gathered the members of the Bar Associations, judges, and other national authorities’...
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,...
Promoting equality in Armenia through cooperation with civil society organisations
The joint project "Strengthening the access to justice through non-judiciary redress mechanisms for victims of discrimination, hate crime and hate speech in Eastern Partnership countries," awarded two grants to Armenian NGOs in 2021, related specifically to support victims of discrimination in...
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...
Model rules of conduct for all Armenian public servants adopted - implementation by institutions to follow
The Council of Europe and the Corruption Prevention Commission of the Republic of Armenia jointly organised a “High-level Conference on the Model Code of Conduct for Public Servants in Armenia” on 4th July in Yerevann, Armenia. The conference concludes and complements the process of development...
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...
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