The Assembly of Armenian lawyers discussed issues related to the legal mechanisms for ensuring the security of the Armenian people

28 October 2023

The Armenian Lawyers Assembly is currently taking place in Yerevan, with the participation of 250 lawyers from over 30 countries. The conference is organized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs.

The first panel discussion of the meeting focused on the role of the Diaspora legal community in supporting legislative reforms in the Republic of Armenia. The panel included Vladimir Vardanyan, the Chair of the RA National Assembly Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, Armenuhi Harutyunyan, the Deputy Minister of Justice, Vigen Kocharyan, a member of the Supreme Judicial Council, Alexander Bedrosyan, an attorney at the Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC and a member of the Armenian Bar Association of the US, Armine Matinyan, the head of the Arbitration and Mediation Center of Armenia, and Alexander Kostanyants, the Chairman of the Moscow "Kollegi" Bar Association and Chairman of the Board of Elders of the Association of Armenian Lawyers of Russia. The session was chaired by Armenuhi Ashvanyan, California Supreme Court Judge and a member of the board of the American Armenian Bar Association.

The discussion participants reflected on the formats of involvement of Diaspora Armenian lawyers in Armenia, especially in terms of legislative reforms.

The speakers at the discussion on "The Nagorno-Karabakh issue and post-war legal processes" included Anahit Manasyan, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, Vilen Gabrielyan, a member of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security Affairs of the National Assembly of Armenia, Luciana Minassian, the Legal Advisor at the International Observatory of Human Rights (Argentina), specialized in international humanitarian law and human rights, Alexis Demirdjian, a Trial Lawyer for the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, and Irene Victoria Massimino, a former reporter of the High Criminal Court and the head of the International Human Rights Observatory, who served as the moderator of the discussion.

The session titled "Legal mechanisms for ensuring the security of the Armenian people" was attended by Zareh Sinanyan, the RA High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, Gurgen Petrossian, the President of the German-Armenian Lawyers Association, a member of the "German Institute for Compliance", and the founder and co-author of "Human Rights and Armenian Experience." Also present were Karnig Kerkonian, the head of International and Federal Affairs at "Kerkonian Dajani" LLP, Shahen Petrosyan, the President of the American Bar Association of Russia, and Samvel Karakhanyan, the President of the Barshevsky and Partners Bar Association of Moscow, who moderated the discussion.

The conference will continue on October 29 with discussions and workshops.

Team Telecom Armenia is the main partner of the Armenian Lawyers Assembly. It offers mobile and fixed internet, digital television, and mobile and fixed telephony services in the Republic of Armenia. The company was the first telecom in Armenia to conduct an IPO, making it more transparent and accessible to the public.

As the successor of the first telecommunication system in Armenia, Team combines the extensive experience of the initial communication operator with modern technologies. Since 2021, the company has been constructing a unique NGN (Next Generation Network) network in the region. This network will utilize 25G-PON technology and provide high-speed internet access to all residents of Armenia.

Սփյուռքի Գլխավոր Հանձնակատարի Գրասենյակ Diaspora High Commissioner's Office