2016 | ARMENIAN LAWYERS' ASSOCIATION

Address of the President of the “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO

Dear friends,

I present to your attention the 2016 Annual Report (hereinafter referred to as the Report) of the “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” (previously known as the Armenian Young Lawyers’ Association) NGO’s activities, where the summaries of the activities of our organization and the financial results of completed and ongoing projects are presented. It is very important for us to adhere to the principles of good faith of the structure before our beneficiaries, members, partners and donor organizations, therefore we publish a report for each year.
2016 was a sated year for us. It should be noted that throughout the year the ALA has implemented different projects, cooperated with RA state bodies, participated in the process of publicly monitoring a number of RA strategic documents and in public oversight, has implemented the fight against corruption within the framework of the “Multi-Faceted Anti-Corruption Promotion” project (hereinafter the project), and thanks to its work, occupies a special place within the society and the legal community.
Due to its high reliability, Iravaban.net, an independent professional news website founded by the ALA, has become an even more popular platform in the public and professional audiences for discussing public affairs and legal issues.

I should especially mention that all the achievements and the implementation of the ideas of the ALA are only possible thanks to the direct participation of the ALA’s close-knit team, its members and staff, volunteers and stakeholders in Yerevan and in the regions, partners and donors, to whom I want to express my deepest gratitude. I assure all of you that our joint work is appreciated and leads to desired results, which inspires us to continue working and creating with great enthusiasm.

Best regards,

Karen Zadoyan, Lawyer

President of the “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO

INTRODUCTION

The ALA was founded in 1995 in Yerevan, during its 21 years’ activities it enjoys the public’s trust, and it is an established structure in the field of law and civil society in the RA. Having a clear mission, vision, strategic action plan and values, the ALA successfully implements the tasks set before it and provides solutions to them.
One of the main activities of the ALA is the protection of human rights, including the protection of socially vulnerable groups and women’s rights, and raising the level of legal awareness, fighting corruption in Armenia, supporting justice and other targeted reforms, educating lawyers and promoting civil society.
In a short period of time, the ALA established business relations with a number of state, private and international organizations, implemented various projects aimed at implementing the main directions of the organization. It is noteworthy that only a few years after its establishment, the services of the structure were available in almost the entire territory of the RA due to the offices operating in the provinces of Armenia. The ALA currently has 5 branches: in Yerevan, and the provinces of Shirak, Lori, Gegharkunik and Syunik.
Since 2010 the ALA also operates the National Network of Anti-Corruption Centers (hereinafter referred to as the network). In 2013 the USAID decided to prematurely end the “Armenia against Corruption” project, as a result of which, on 1 February, 2014, the Network was consolidated and anti-corruption centers started operating on social grounds. These are currently located in Yerevan and the provinces of Shirak, Lori, Gegharkunik and Syunik.
The ALA updates its legal library every year, the services of which are used by the lawyers of Yerevan and the provinces as well as other interested people. The ALA operates a trilingual official website: https://armla.am/, and the official website of the Network is: www.aac.am.
In 2016 the independent professional news website www.iravaban.net has been operated with high access rates in Armenian and English, it has more than 150000 followers on the social media website “Facebook.”

ALA’s MISSION, VALUES AND TEAM
- The Mission of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association is to develop a new generation of highly professional lawyers, having a modern outlook and moral values, as well as to promote the establishment of the rule of law and formation of legal culture in the society.
- The values of the organization are:

Modern legal culture rooted in the heritage of universal and Armenian centuries-old values,
A law-abiding, educated society, which is aware of its rights,
Protected human rights,
Lawyers with high professional knowledge and moral values,
A strong civil society.
- ALA Team.

The key to ALA’s success is its team. Professional specialists, who regularly improve their knowledge both in Armenia and abroad, make an invaluable contribution to the development and establishment of the structure, coming up with new initiatives and innovative ideas. The ALA regularly organizes events aimed at raising the professional qualities of its members, developing related skills, as well as a number of cultural events. The ALA team attaches great importance to the ideology and values of the structure and is always guided by them during its activities.

COOPERATION
- The ALA is constantly striving to expand the circle of its supporters and partners, while continuing close cooperation with its longtime partners. This year, the organization has implemented various anti-corruption and professional measures, acquiring new partners, including various non-governmental and international organizations, state bodies and business structures.
- It is gratifying to note that the year ended with the achievement of new partnerships. On 16 December, 2016, the GIZ funded “Evidence-based Advocacy for Reform” project, which was implemented by the Consortium of the which was implemented by the Consortium of the Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE), Armenian Lawyers’ Association (ALA) and European Business Association (EBA) The project will last 10 months. The main objective is to increase the influence of business-based organizations and business associations to promote reform in the SME sector. The following are planned: the strengthening of the government-private sector dialogue, the launching of an innovative website that will provide information by business whistleblowers and ensure their anonymity.
- On the same day (16 December, 2016), the EU funded “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project was launched with a duration period of 34 months. The project was implemented by a Consortium comprising the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, Agora Central Europe (an NGO from the Czech Republic), the Armenian Center for Democratic Education-CIVITAS, the International Center for Human Development, the SME Cooperation Association and the Union of Communities of Armenia. The project has a duration period of 34 months. The overall objective of the Action is to enhance the influence of CSOs on the public policy process in 9 target areas, and the specific objectives are to strengthen the ability of CSOs to build coalitions and focus on constructive and strategic policy engagement with local and central government partners.
- The “Strengthening of Public Oversight and Mechanisms for the Prevention of Corruption in the Food Safety Sector” Project was launched. It is implemented by the “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO in cooperation with the Youth Foundation of Armenia, partner of the RA President’s Office. The duration of the project is 4 months. The main objectives of the project are: to identify the issues and corruption risks that exist in the state bodies and other organizations which provide services in the food safety sphere through transparency and public awareness; to carry out a study of the RA Draft Law on “Bio safety of the Use of Genetically Modified Organisms” by an expert-lawyer, comparing and harmonizing the draft with the best international experience, as well as to prepare a report focusing on the elimination of corruption risks.
- Cooperation with the GIZ. On 2-3 December, 2016, the round table discussion and training on “Communication Strategies for Legal Awareness Campaigns” was held in Borjomi, Georgia. The event was organized by GIZ (German international Cooperation) for the representatives of the South Caucasus countries. The ALA also participated and presented the experience in legal awareness implemented by the ALA and Iravaban.net, as well as recent developments of anti-corruption reform in the country.
- Cooperation with the OSCE Yerevan office. The co-financing of the “Multi-Faceted Anti-Corruption Promotion” project with the EU.
- Cooperation with the EU. On 5 June, 2016, the Europe Day Information Fair was held in Yerevan. Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Świtalski and Ambassadors of EU Member States attended the event. There were 41 pavilions at the fair. The Armenian Lawyers’ Association had a pavilion as well.
- Cooperation with the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia. On 28 November, 2014, about 70 NGOs from Yerevan and the provinces of Armenia adopted the Declaration on the Establishment of CSOs Anti-Corruption Coalition, (hereinafter-the Coalition). The goals of the Coalition are:

to increase the effectiveness of CSOs in monitoring government’s anti-corruption reforms,
to contribute to the strengthening and development of anti-corruption institutional mechanisms. Contribute to the increase of public anti-corruption perception and awareness, to protect the rights of citizens who have become victims of corruption,
to strengthen the capacity of CSOs to monitor, exercise public oversight and conduct anti-corruption activities.

The Secretariat of the coalition is coordinated by the ALA.
On 13 May, 2016, it was decided at the coalition conference that the council will consist of 15 member organizations, 4 civil society organizations operating in the regions of Armenia, 3 business organizations, one IT organization, and 6 republican organizations of national significance.
The meeting of the regional members of the Coalition took place on 26 May, 2016, in Gyumri.

Cooperation with the RA Government staff. The cooperation was effective, especially in the field of protection of women’s rights at the level of domestic legislation reforms. In particular, “The women’s quota ratio used to be 20/80. We envisaged 25/75 for this election, and 30/70 for 2022,” the Chief of Staff of the RA Government said, speaking about the provisions of the new draft amendments to the Electoral Code submitted by the National Assembly. This idea has always been voiced by the ALA, which has proposed to Article 84 of the new draft Electoral Code (Part 3 and 9), making the ratio of women to men 30/70 instead of 20/80. Under the current regulations, women’s representation on party lists should start from the second number and be in 2-6, and 6-11 and every quintet after. In order to ensure a 30 % women’s representation rate, it was proposed to turn the quintets into triplets.
Cooperation with the RA Ministry of Justice. The joint work of the ALA-Ministry of Justice this year is especially important. In the presence of a constructive dialogue with the Ministry, as well as with RA Government Staff, it was possible to include the roadmap for the fight against corruption developed by the ALA and the Coalition in the political agenda of the Republic of Armenia, which included the introduction of independent anti-corruption institutional systems, the protection of whistleblowers’ rights, the criminalization of illicit enrichment, and the introduction of anti-corruption institutional structures in the institute of beneficial owners in our country. Shortly after, they all were implemented.
Cooperation with the RA Prosecutor’s Office. In the framework of the cooperation established between the RA Prosecutor’s Office and the ALA, the ALA, in cooperation with the Coalition, conducted a study aimed at preventing torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.[1] A number of issues are raised in the work, which are analyzed through international and domestic legal acts. On 16 December, 2016, the ALA submitted the study to the RA Prosecutor General’s Office.
Cooperation with the State Revenue Committee (SRC). The following anti-corruption measure “The anti-corruption risks in the tax sector” was aimed at three interested parties, to bring together government officials, businesses and civil society representatives, as a result, the problems in the field and the ways to find constructive solutions were discussed.
Cooperation with the “Union of Information Technology Enterprises”. On 31 August, 2016, a cooperation agreement was signed between the ALA and the Union of Information Technology Enterprises”, the purpose of which is to support the creation and implementation of modern information technologies, including web sites, for the protection of human rights in Armenia.
Cooperation with the Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences. On 28 October, 2016, a cooperation agreement was signed between the ALA and the Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences, the purpose of which is to support the work carried out in the field of anti-corruption and integrity training, development and implementation of anti-corruption mechanisms at the university, to promote the protection of the interests and rights of workers and students in the fight against corruption.
Cooperation with the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU).
On 27 December, 2016, meetings took place between ALA and AGBU representatives. These two organizations, together with their partners, will implement two major projects with the support of the European Union. During the meeting, the parties presented their organizations and the work to be done within the framework of grants received by the European Union. The participants agreed to hold working meetings, outlining future tasks and steps for cooperation.
Cooperation with the Mass Media.

Inet,
CivilNet, available at: https://armla.am/31459.html.

ALA PROJECTS AND IMPLEMENTED ACTIVITIES
- Fight against corruption. In the framework of the “Multi-Faceted Anti-Corruption Promotion”, the following measures were implemented:

Continuing the implementation of the Project, the anti-corruption working platform and the anti-corruption working groups of the government-civil society have been active.
In particular, extended meetings of the “Government-Civil Society” anti-corruption working group were held, dedicated to the institute for criminalization of illicit enrichment. Representatives of the executive body, law enforcement agencies and the public sector were present at the meetings. During the meetings, ALA experts presented the international experience on the institute for criminalization of illicit enrichment, the experience of its successful and failed countries, the problems at the domestic legislative level, as well as the preconditions for criminalizing the article on illicit enrichment in Armenia.
On 13 May, 2016, the first anti-corruption conference “Government-Civil Society” took place in Yerevan, during which the two anti-corruption institutional systems were presented: the possibility of introducing effective anti-corruption structures and the opportunities for cooperation in this issue. It was noted that it is also important to establish a council of anti-corruption and non-governmental organizations with professional experience in the field of human rights protection, which will monitor the activities of the anti-corruption body.
On 26 May, 2016, the anti-corruption event “Corruption Risks in the Customs Sector” was held in Gyumri, which was attended by ALA President Karen Zadoyan, members of the Coalition, representatives of state agencies and local self-government bodies, as well as civil society representatives. The international experience of applying effective mechanisms for overcoming corruption in the customs sector, and the importance and prospects of cooperation with CSOs for the implementation of anti-corruption reforms in the customs sector were presented.
On 31 May, 2016, the “Corruption Risks in the Business Sector of Armenia: Recorded Problems and Upcoming Activities” workshop started, which was attended by 50 people. The organizers of this workshop were the ALA and the Coalition, the partners were the RA Ministry of Justice and the Freedom of Information Center, the event was co-financed by the “Arthurs Aghveran Resort” Hotel Complex.
On 1 June, 2016, the “Monitoring of enhancing Anti-Corruption Education and Integrity in the Universities of the RA” report discussion took place. During two months, research of corruption risks were summarized in 9 universities of the Republic of Armenia, 7 of which are public and two private.
On 9 June, 2016, the anti-corruption event “Corruption Risks in the Tax Sphere” took place, during which there were reports on a number of problematic issues in the tax sphere, the speeches and questions of the participants were voiced. One of the priority issues is the relationship between the tax inspector and the business. There are reports that hidden fees are often collected, there are complaints about the behavior of the employees of the SRC investigation body, and there are problems with the workflow of large businesses and small and medium enterprises. Sometimes supermarkets require SMEs to arrange the delivery of goods without legal documents.
The regular sitting of the Anti-Corruption Council was held on 15 June, 2016. On the first issue of the agenda, ALA President Karen Zadoyan and RA Minister of Justice Arpine Hovhannisyan presented the results of the study of the institutional system of the fight against corruption within the framework of a joint working group and similar experience of different countries of the world. Representatives of the Ministry of Justice, CSOs and the Coalition were included in the group. The report presented to the members of the Council a detailed review of the international experience in the formation of anti-corruption bodies and the basic principles set out in a number of international documents aimed at ensuring the independence and efficiency of anti-corruption bodies. All the proposals, which were considered a priority by the executive were made by the Coalition and the ALA.
The “Corruption Risks in the Police Sector in Terms of Providing Services to Citizens” event took place on 16 June, 2016 in Ararat marz. The Mayor of Ararat city, Deputy Head of the RA Traffic Police Department of Registration-Examination and Technical Expertise, Police Colonel Arthur Tonoyan, the Coalition’s experts and representatives of the Passport and Visa Department attended the event. The issues of overcoming corruption in providing services to the citizens and the issues related to the legislative reforms in the police sphere were discussed.
“Corruption Risks in the Field of Free Competition” Anti-Corruption Event was organized in Gavar on 24 June, 2016, during which ALA President Karen Zadoyan mentioned: “The Anti-Corruption Council has been offered recommendations on the introduction of three key institutions aimed at making the fight against corruption more effective within the state. This refers to the disclosure of the beneficial owners of the companies participating in the state procurement, the criminalization of illicit enrichment and the establishment of an independent anti-corruption body. Legislative drafts are currently being drafted to introduce these three institutions, which are likely to be submitted to the National Assembly in September this year.
On 15 July, 2016, an anti-corruption event on “Corruption Risks in the Field of Public Procurement and State Property Privatization” was held in Kapan.
On 22 July, 2016, an anti-corruption event titled: “Corruption Risks in Local Self-Government Bodies” was held in Gyumri, which was attended by President of the ALA, Karen Zadoyan, Governor of Shirak, Hovsep Simonyan, Deputy Mayor of Gyumri, Vagharshak Mkhitaryan, Head of the Penitentiary and Anti-Corruption Policy Department of the RA Ministry of Justice, Karen Hakobyan, President of the Union of Communities of Armenia, Emin Yeritsyan, community leaders and other stakeholders. In his speech, the Governor significantly emphasized such measures and noted that such consistency in the fight against corruption already warns some officials to avoid abusing their official position.
On 29 July, 2016, an anti-corruption event was held in Vanadzor, which was attended by Alessandro Zanotta, Economic Governance and Public Administration Reforms Adviser at the EU Delegation to Armenia. The results of the “Detection of Corruption Risks during the Customs Clearance of Cars Imported to Armenia” project were summarized within the framework of the Small Grant projects component of the Action.
On 10 September, 2016, the participants of the first meeting of the Public Council adjacent to the Ministry of Justice discussed the legislative package aimed at a large scale fight against corruption, which specifically referred to the creation of an independent anti-corruption body, the criminalization of illicit enrichment and the introduction of the institute of identification of beneficial owners in the public procurement system. Acting Justice Minister Arpine Hovhannisyan thanked the President of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association Karen Zadoyan for significant support in the development of this legislative package.
On 28 September, 2016, an anti-corruption event “Corruption Risks in the Health Sector” was held in Gavar. During the event, local and international experts presented reports on their research in the field of healthcare, current corruption risks in this field and the steps to reduce and eliminate them.
On 13 October, 2016, an anti-corruption event titled “Problems of Increasing Transparency in the Declaration System of High-Ranking Officials’ Income, Assets and their Related Persons, as well as the Reforms Implemented” was held in Vanadzor.
On 20 October, 2016, a workshop was held in Ararat, during which the existing corruption risks related to obtaining licenses or permits in different spheres of business were discussed.
On 29 October, 2016, the final workshop on “Corruption Risks in the Business Sector in Armenia” took place.
On 24 November, 2016, an enlarged meeting of the “Government-Civil Society” anti-corruption workshop took place dedicated to the discussions on the anti-corruption body, the workshop was attended by the ALA President Karen Zadoyan, Deputy Minister of Justice Suren Krmoyan, International Expert Carl Ulbricht, Lawyer-Expert Mariam Zadoyan, Anti-Corruption Policy Expert of the Department of Anti-Corruption and Penitentiary Policy Development of the RA Ministry of Justice Tatev Sarukhanyan and others. Suren Krmoyan noted that the department is developing the relevant legal acts, and that they will try to take possible steps to ensure that the anti-corruption body is independent.
The Anti-Corruption Awards Ceremony took place on 9 December, 2016. It was attended by the RA Prosecutor General Arthur Davtyan, the Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Piotr Świtalski, the Minister of Justice, representatives of the public sector, CSOs and the private sector. Anti-corruption awards were presented to citizens and organizations that excelled in their fight against corruption this year. The awards were presented in the categories of “Citizen of the Year”, “Civil Society Organization of the Year”, “Journalist of the Year”, “Media of the Year”, “Business of the Year”, and “Young Citizen of the Year.” Further, ALA President Karen Zadoyan thanked the representatives of the partner ministries and the local organizations of the International Coalition for their cooperation and support.
An Anti-Corruption Workshop was held within the framework of the project, the “Youth-Business-Government”, which was attended by schoolchildren and students. During the seminar, experts in the field, and representatives of the public and private sectors delivered various lectures over the past three days on the fight against corruption, the work of the public and CSO sectors in this field. ALA President Karen Zadoyan presented the ways to fight corruption in Armenia. President of “Future is Yours” NGO, Narine Sargsyan, Head of “Youth Against Corruption” Program, Head of the Department of Business Environment Improvement of the Ministry of Economic Development and Investment of the Republic of Armenia Albert Babayan, President of the SME Cooperation Association, Member of the Board of the Anti-Corruption Coalition of the CSOs of Armenia Hakob Avagyan, Lawyer-Expert Mariam Zadoyan, and International Expert Carl Ulbricht also made speeches during the last three days.
On 30 December, 2016, the President, among other laws, signed the RA Law on “Making Amendments to the RA Criminal Code” and the RA Law on “Making Amendments to the RA Criminal Procedure Code.” According to the first law, a new article was added to the RA Criminal Code – “Illegal enrichment”, and according to the second, the proceedings of criminal cases of illicitly enriched officials were assigned to the Special Investigation Service. The criminalization of illicit enrichment was an important step not only for the ALA, but also for the society. “As a result of ALA’s struggle for about 9 years, this most important anti-corruption structure, illicit enrichment, was criminalized as a result of an intensive and coordinated struggle and the involvement of the Coalition.”

The Philip C. Jessup International law Moot Court Competition in Armenia.

Since 2000, the Philip C. Jessup International law Moot Court Competition in Armenia is organized by the ALA. The National Administrator of the Armenian round of the competition is Syuzanna Soghomonyan.
The team of the American University of Armenia won on 14 February, 2016, during the national round of the Philip C. Jessup International law Moot Court Competition.
On 27 March, 2016, the international round of the Philip C. Jessup International law Moot Court Competition took place. This year, 116 teams from around the world took part in the international round. For the first time in 16 years, Armenia showed the best result ever during the years of participation, ranking 37th among 116 countries. Until now, the best result has been shown by the team of the Yerevan State University in 2009, taking the 49th place, winning two of the four games and losing two. The team representing the American University of Armenia competed in the international round with the teams representing Costa Rica, Cyprus, Australia and Luxembourg, recording 3 victories and 1 defeat. In addition, Margarita Tovmasyan, a member of the team of the American University of Armenia, was recognized as one of the top 50 oralists of the competition among more than 400 oralists. The coaches of the Armenian American University team are Ara Khzmalyan and Yeghishe Kirakosyan, and the head of the master’s program in law is Adelaide Baghdasaryan.
- The Four-Day April War.
On 19 April, 2016, the ALA, together with the team of the Iravaban.net website, headed by the Executive Director of the ALA Artak Saribekyan, left for Artsakh to carry out fact-finding work. This was followed by the publication of reports.
Then, the report “Offences Committed by the Republic of Azerbaijan in NKR and Opportunities to Apply to International Organizations” was prepared. The English version of the report was presented to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, NATO, the CIS Executive Committee, the Council of Europe, Minsk Group’s offices in France, Russia and the United States, Human Rights Watch, the UN Office in Yerevan, the OSCE Office in Yerevan, the Armenian delegation to the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.

THE 2016 FINANCIAL REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL MEANS OF THE ALA: ALA BOARD AND CONTACTS

Other operating costs

Thousand AMD (Armenian Dram)

	2016	2015

Salary	74,757	84,498
Materials	14	0
Goods	1,315	1,741
Fuel	1,601	1,771
Delivery of services	3,995	9,747
Fees	195	34
Property tax	161	136
Rents	390	1,333
Mail, telecommunications	4,925	4,471
Office and other utility costs	22,088	1,141
Banking services	255	53
Annual wear and amortization	10,302	4,726
Travel	72	243
Other operating expenses/ audit and consulting	0
Other operating expenses/ conversion	0	0
Force Majeure	0	0
Advertising	49	0
Expenses from fines, penalties, court costs	10	39
Partners’ expenses	0	0
Sub-grant expenses	0	0
*Total:*	120,129	109,939

ALA BOARD

The ALA Board is considered to be the governing body of the Organization in the periods between sessions of the General Assembly.

Name, Surname	Position
Karen Zadoyan	ALA President, President of the ALA Board
Arpine Yeghikyan	Executive Secretary of the ALA Board
David Abgaryan	Member of the ALA Board
Narine Karapetyan	Member of the ALA Board
Syuzanna Soghomonyan	Member of the ALA Board
Marat Atovmyan	Member of the ALA Board
Karen Kocharyan	Member of the ALA Board