Annual Report – 2020 of the “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO

ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE “ARMENIAN LAWYERS’ ASSOCIATION” NGO

Dear Friends, Partners and Supporters,

With great love and responsibility, I present to you the 2020 annual report (hereinafter referred to as the report) of the “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGOs activities, where the summaries of the activities of our organization and the financial results of finished 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.

The coronavirus pandemic last year and the 44-day Artsakh Second War posed a number of challenges and difficulties to the Republic of Armenia. ALA focused all its potential on contributing to the solution of these challenges. In particular, dozens of citizens received free legal aid referring to the restrictions due to coronavirus, violations and abuses of rights arising during the state of emergency. Moreover, disproportionate restrictions and violations of rights existed in different areas: labor, social, health, economic, etc. In the past year, when distance learning became widespread, ALA donated computers and other necessary equipment to regional schools from its own resources, trying to help school-age children receive education to the most possible extent.

Unfortunately, the 2020 took the lives of several thousand of our soldiers and citizens, about 75% of the territory of the Artsakh Republic was lost, several thousand of our soldiers and citizens were wounded during the war, some of them became disabled, and tens of thousands of our compatriots became internally displaced. Assistance to these target groups was part of the ALA’s day-to-day work, with dozens of citizens being provided with free legal aid to restore their rights. We undertook with great responsibility for the consolidation of the potential of our compatriots displaced from Artsakh to Armenia, around public interests and ideas, and we started the creation of non-governmental organizations uniting the potential of the forcibly displaced from Artsakh.

Undoubtedly, in parallel with these processes, the structure continued its main activity, promoting the development, amendment and adoption of public policies in the areas of justice, rule of law and good governance, paying special attention to human rights protection, constitutional, anti-corruption and judicial system reforms. It was also important for us to ensure public participation in these processes, and for this purpose public and expert discussions were organized as well.

At the beginning of the year, by the decision of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, based on the results of an open competition, the ALA was also included in the Professional Commission on Constitutional Reforms. I must say with regret that as a result of the war the Commission could not finish its work and by the decision of the Commission its activity was frozen.

For many years, alternative education for young people and CSOs has also had a special place in our activities. We are pleased to inform that last year we created the electronic platform of the ALA, which is already successfully launched and has been accepted and appreciated by our beneficiaries. We also successfully completed another stream of the Anti-Corruption School for Young Leaders and equipped the Young Leaders with innovative knowledge.

In 2020, online media outlet Iravaban.net, launched by the ALA, continued its work in the field of raising the level of public awareness and rooting the legal culture.

Regards and best wishes,

Karen Zadoyan, Lawyer,

President of the “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO

1. INTRODUCTION

The ALA was founded in 1995 in Yerevan, during its activities it enjoys the public’s trust, 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.

The main areas of the ALA activity are the protection of human rights, including the rights of socially vulnerable groups and women, and raising the level of legal awareness, the fight against corruption in Armenia, supporting reforms in the justice, including constitutional, judicial and other targeted areas, promoting the education of lawyers and young people, and contributing to the building and establishment of civil society.

During the reporting period the ALA established business relations with state, private and international organizations, the number of which is constantly expanding. The ALA has 4 branches: in Yerevan and the provinces of Shirak, Lori and Syunik, where regional structures and local self-government bodies are involved in the implementation of programs, as a result of which the impact of ALA programs are becoming more large scale and widespread.

The ALA has a rich legal library, the services of which are used by young lawyers from Yerevan and the provinces and other interested persons. The ALA operates a trilingual (in Armenian, English and Russian languages) official website: https://armla.am/. The ALA, also being the coordinator of the Secretariat of the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenian (hereinafter referred to as the Coalition), operates the official website of the Coalition: http://aac.am/, ensures the normal course of the Coalition’s activities, provides expert support to the Coalition, covers the activities of the Coalition, ensures the publicity of the results of the activities. During the reporting period, ALA also created its own e-learning platform, https://elearning.armla.am/, which has already been successfully launched and accepted by our beneficiaries. The platform also has a special section, which includes the educational component of the Anti-Corruption School for Young Leaders, with basic and advanced stages.

In 2020 the independent professional news website www.iravaban.net has been operated with high access rates in Armenian and English, it has more than 240,000 followers on the social media website “Facebook”. Also the website bizprotect.am has continued to function, where anonymous reports on possible corruption risks and other violations in the business sphere are presented, and the ALA ensures that they are addressed by the competent authorities.

2. ALA’s MISSION, VALUES AND TEAM

The Mission of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association is to promote the formation of a sovereign legal community in Armenia with high professional competencies, having invulnerable integrity values and applying the legal innovation, the establishment of a safe legal environment, legal culture, rule of law and legal innovation in the society.

The values of the organization are: Sovereignty, professionalism, honesty, leadership, innovation, teamwork, integrity, justice, solidarity, constructive dialogue, purposefulness, courage and forgiveness.

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.

3. IMPLEMENTED PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE ALA

COVID-19 and Resilience in Armenia: Mitigating the Socio-Economic Impact on Vulnerable People and Communities

Implementation of the “COVID-19 and Resilience in Armenia: Mitigating the Socio-Economic Impact on Vulnerable People and Communities” Project funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) was launched in October 2019.

The overall Objective of the program was to strengthen the system of the protection of labor rights in the Republic of Armenia. For this purpose, the innovative information platform EmployeeProtect.am was created and is already being operated for registration, acceptance and examination of anonymous applications on violations of employees’ rights. The electronic whistleblowing platform is an institutional tool for the protection of labor rights and solves 3 important problems:

Opportunity to file complaints about violations of labor rights in anonymous and personally identifiable formats;
Access to advice and information in the field of the protection of labor rights;
Possibility to identify gaps in labor legislation and initiate reforms through feedback.

The electronic platform for the protection of labor rights consists of a website and a mobile application.

Co-creation Support for the 2020-2022 OGP National Action Plan

“Co-creation Support for the 2020-2022 OGP National Action Plan” project funded by the Open Government Partnership started in October 2020.

The objective of the project was to assist in defining the list of activities for the next two years, target areas, and necessary actions through discussions with the civil society of Armenia and the competent state bodies.

Discussions focused on education, social, public procurement, healthcare and justice sectors. The procedure for developing OGP action plans and setting criteria for priorities has been developed.

Youth4Anti-Corruption: The 6th stream of the Anti-Corruption School for Young Leaders

The Youth4Anti-Corruption Project support by the Swedish Government was launched in June 2020. The main objective of the project was to promote the participation and role of youth in the fight against corruption.

Young people, students attending the sixth stream of the Anti-Corruption School for Young Leaders, and high school students, for whom Anti-Corruption Student Clubs were established, were the beneficiaries of the project.

As a result, during the 6 months of the project, about two hundred students and young professionals, about one hundred high school students were trained on the ALA’s online platform for anti-corruption education.

In addition, a 5-day in-depth outreach training was organized for the youth, which was attended by 22 young people who showed the best results, and after the training, they were divided into 5 groups and conducted research and practical work on five different topics.

An anti-corruption painting and essay contest was organized for the pupils as well.

The results of the project were summed up on 9 December, the International Anti-Corruption Day. H.E. Mr. Patrik Svensson, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Sweden in Armenia, attended the event as well. He handed over certificates of participation and competition prizes to the youth and students.

Students from Shirak, Syunik and Lori regions, young people from all over Armenia and Artsakh participated in the project.

Promoting Direct Democracy for Strengthening Human Rights in Armenia

This year, ALA member Ms Syuzanna Soghomonyan was awarded the fellowship of the “Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility” Project of the EU. The “Promoting Direct Democracy for Strengthening Human Rights in Armenia” project was launched in the scope of the scholarship. The project was implemented in cooperation with the ALA. Monitoring of the implementation of the first eight months of the “National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights and its Implementation Action Plan for 2020-2022” was carried out. Within the scope of monitoring in-depth expert interviews were conducted with the key responsible persons for the measures envisaged in the implementation action plan. A separate in-depth expert interview questionnaire was developed for each group of surveyed informants. Focus group discussions were organized. A report was develop based on the results of monitoring; a conference on Government-CSO cooperation format was organized. Proposals on the improvement of the public policy were developed based on the summary results of the conference and the monitoring report.

The public awareness about the National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights and its Action Plan, as well as about the implementation process of the strategy was raise. In addition, the professional skills of young lawyers in the field of human rights were developed.

Implementation of Chapter II and Chapter V of the UN Convention against Corruption in Armenia

This program was launched in May 2020.

Armenian Lawyers Association and CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia in cooperation with UNCAC Coalition have developed an alternative Report on the implementation of Chapter II (Corruption Prevention) and Chapter V (Asset Recovery) provisions of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in Armenia.

The report addresses the lack of an independent anti-corruption institutional body, political influence, a lack of integrity, monitoring & resources, and an incomplete asset recovery framework are among the many challenges that still persist in the fight against corruption in Armenia.

Key recommendations for the government of Armenia include: filling the gaps in the regulations of the anti-corruption bodies, judiciary, assets, income and interest declarations, procurement system, as well as improving whistleblower framework and integrity checks, and increasing transparency in political parties’ financing. Other recommendations are also included in the report.

Free legal advice to citizens

The ALA Yerevan and regional offices have provided free legal advice to citizens, especially the socially vulnerable groups, on various legal issues and disputes. The consultation was provided both during office visits and by telephone and online, including questions sent through social network sites. Legal, including procedural documents were also prepared within the framework of the consultation.

Notably, the coronavirus-vulnerable groups (such as: workers, patients, borrowers, SMEs, etc.) and the families of servicemen killed, or people with disabilities and those forcibly displaced from Artsakh as a result of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan on 27 September, 2020, who had a special place among the target groups to receive consultations. Statements and contact information on the legal aid provided have been published regularly.

In total, in 2020, more than 2,000 people received free legal aid.

Protection of the rights of forcibly displaced persons from Artsakh

The protection of the rights of displaced citizens as a result of the Second Artsakh War was carried out not only through the provision of free consultations, assistance in obtaining social assistance, but also through the establishment of institutional units.

Thanks to the free legal assistance of the ALA, 7 (seven) non-governmental organizations have applied for state registration. The common goal of those organizations is to protect the legitimate interests of the people of Artsakh who moved to Armenia and to make the solution of the Artsakh problem part of the international community’s agenda. These non-governmental organizations have started their activities and already have achieved certain results. The list of these NGOs is presented below.

“Return to Dizak” NGO
“De-occupation of Hadrut” NGO
“Return to Kashatagh” NGO
“De-occupation of Shushi” NGO
“Kumayri” Non-Governmental Organizations of Artsakh Armenians
“Harmony” Shushi Women NGO
“Return to Karvachar” NGO

Free legal advice to CSOs

The ALA Yerevan and regional offices provided free legal advice to NGOs and foundations on state registration and re-registration issues, developed charters, protocols and amendments to the charter. Advice and clarifications on direct engagement of NGOs in business activities, tax liabilities, reporting, registration of volunteers and organization of work with them, employer-employee legal relations and other legal issues were provided as well.

Assistance to schools in the regions

In the past year, when distance learning became widespread, ALA donated computers and other necessary equipment to regional schools from its own resources, trying to help as much as possible the school-age children receive education. In total, 12 computers, as well as desks, bookcases and other property were donated.

Launch of BizProtect.am whistleblowing system and free legal advice to businesses

The ALA’s Yerevan and regional offices provide free legal advice to business representatives on various legal issues, including tax, customs, public procurement, licensing and issuing permits, as well as other legal relationships. The consultation was provided both through office visits and through telephone means and online, including through the BizProtect.am whistleblowing platform and questions posted on social media.

Republican Conferences

Highlighting the alternative education of young people and the development of related skills, ALA continued to organize scientific events and encourage young people in 2020 as well. In particular, 3 conferences with the participation of students and young specialists from different universities of Armenia were organized:

Republican Scientific Conference the “RA National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights: Prospects and Challenges”,
Republican Scientific Conference “Judicial Reforms in Armenia: Key Priorities and Challenges”,
The 4th Republican Scientific Conference “The Armenian Context of the Fight against Corruption: Key Priorities and Challenges”.

The Conferences were organized in two rounds: written and oral. Participants who succeed in the written rounds of the conference were invited to participate in the oral rounds, where they presented their reports and answered the questions of the jury members. The participants were greeted and the members of the jury were Mr. Karen Zadoyan, the President of the ALA; Ms Kristinne Grigoryan, the RA Deputy Minister of Justice; Mr. Arman Tatoyan, the RA Human Rights Defender and other respected specialists acted as members of the jury and greeted the participants. Prizes were awarded to the winners.

Expert Opinions, Analyzes and Reports

The year 2020 was full of initiatives to amend and supplement judicial and anti-corruption legislation. The ALA and the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia, as a specialized bodies in the field of anti-corruption, continued their active participation and support in the legislative activity.

In addition to those already listed in this report, in 2020 the ALA and the Coalition presented expert opinions and recommendations, reports and analyzes on the following topics:

Monitoring of the “National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights and its Implementation Action Plan for 2020-2022”,
Amendments and additions to the Judicial Code of the Republic of Armenia,
Constitutional anti-corruption bodies,
Independent anti-corruption bodies,
Anti-corruption judiciary (judicial system),
Social sphere,
Anti-crisis programs,
Legal relations arising from the state of emergency,
Declarations on assets, income, interests and expenses of officials,
Amendments and supplements to the RA Law on Public Service,
Procurement sector reforms,
Police Reforms Strategy and Its Implementation Action Plan for 2020-2022
Establishment of the Anti-Corruption Committee.

4. THE 2019 FINANCIAL REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL MEANS OF THE ALA: ALA BOARD AND CONTACTS

Thousand AMD (Armenian Dram)

	2020	2019

Salary	18,753	91,171
Materials	0	0
Goods	507	1,342
Fuel	417	951
Delivery of services	20,087	32,830
Fees	144	12
Property tax	146	146
Rents	253	468
Mail, telecommunications	100	2,304
Office and other utility costs	2,920	4,460
Banking services	13	32
Annual wear and amortization	14,513	20,656
Travel	11	270
Other operating expenses / audit and consulting	1,783	14,348
Other operating expenses/ conversion	245	4,270
Force Majeure	0	0
Advertising	0	0
Expenses from fines, penalties, court costs	0	0
Partners’ expenses	0	66,799
Sub-grant expenses	377	336,971
Total:	75,261	577,030

5. 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
Marat Atovmyan	Member of the ALA Board
Gohar Ghazinyan	Member of the ALA Board
Carl Ulbricht	Member of the ALA Board
Zaruhi Harutyunyan	Member of the ALA Board
Karen Kocharyan	Member of the ALA Board