ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT PF THE “ARMENIAN LAWYERS’ ASSOCIATION” NGO
Dear Friends, Partners and Supporters,
I present to your attention the 2022 Annual Report (hereinafter referred to as the Report) on the activities of the “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO (hereinafter: the ALA), which summarizes the information about the organization’s activities, already implemented and current programs, organized discussions, prepared expert reports, and the financial report.
This year, the structure continued the implementation of its adopted policy as well, promoting the development, modification and adoption of public policies in various areas of justice, rule of law, good governance, paying special attention to the protection of human rights, as well as the constitutional, anti-corruption and judicial system reforms.
Based on the transparency of the organization’s activities, observance of the integrity principles and ethical standards before the partners and other beneficiaries, ALA presents the organization’s activity report to the public every year.
With best regards and wishes,
Karen Zadoyan, Lawyer
President of the “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO
INTRODUCTION
The ALA was founded in 1995 in Yerevan. During the years of its activities the organization always enjoyed the trust of the public and was a reliable partner among the associates. Having defined values, mission, vision, developed strategic action plan and being guided by them, ALA successfully implements the statutory goals set before it, and contributes to possible extent to solve challenges and problems in the field of activity.
The main directions of the ALA activity are:
- Fight against corruption in Armenia.
- Protection of human rights, including the rights of Artsakh Armenians, socially vulnerable groups and women, and raising the level of legal awareness,
- 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 the civil society.
- Raising the level of legal awareness of the society.
In this era of technological advancement, it is very important for an organization to have advanced digital tools.
ALA is operating a trilingual official website: https://armla.am/. The organization 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..
ALA has launched and is operating a unique business sector whistle-blowing website- https://bizprotect.am/en. This is an electronic reporting platform, which collects issues encountered in business sector, through which business representatives can report any problems and issues arising in the business sector, including tax, customs, free economic competition, licenses and permits, as well as problems and questions arising in the field of public procurement.
At the end of 2023, ALA launched in the framework of the “Multifaceted Whistle-Blowing Promotion in Armenia” Project and currently operates the https://haytnir.am/en electronic whistle-blowing platform designed for the civil society. The platform enables the citizens to report anonymously or by submitting data, cases of corruption and other offenses known to them. The ALA ensures channeling/addressing the reports received through the online platforms https://bizprotect.am/en/ and https://haytnir.am/en to the competent authorities.
Since the end of 2023, the ALA has launched the Budget Knowledge Sharing and Training platform https://budgets.am/en, created in the framework of the Budgets 4Citizens (B4C)) project, having the objective to provide publicly accessible budget information.
The ALA has a rich legal library, the services of which are used by young lawyers from Yerevan and the provinces as well as by other persons interested who are interested in law.
During the reporting period, ALA continued the constructive dialogue and cooperation with various state, private and international structures, the number of which is constantly expanding. ALA has a Central Office and 3 branches in Yerevan, in the Shirak and Lori marzes of the RA, where regional structures and local self-government bodies are involved in the process of implementing the programs; as a result, the impact of the programs implemented by the ALA becomes more large-scale and comprehensive.
Continuing the topic of digital tools, it is also worth mentioning the e-learning platform created by ALA: https://elearning.armla.am/. Notably, 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 2023 the independent professional news website www.iravaban.net has been operated with high access rates in Armenian and English, it has more than 280,000 followers on the social media website “Facebook”.
ALA 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 ALA values are: The values of the organization are: transparency, benevolence, high professional knowledge, leadership, integrity, team spirit, innovation, conscientiousness, justice, solidarity, constructive dialogue, purposefulness, courage and forgiveness.
The ALA team is the cornerstone of success. Skilled professionals who regularly improve their knowledge both in Armenia and abroad make an invaluable contribution to the establishment and development of the institution, coming up with new initiatives and innovative ideas. ALA currently organizes events aimed at increasing the professional qualities and abilities of its members and developing related skills, as well as increasing national, educational and professional values among them. The ALA team strongly emphasizes the significance of the organization’s ideology and values and is constantly guided by them during its activities.
SUMMARY OF IMPLEMENTED PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES of the ALA
“Budgets 4 Citizens” (B4C) action
The “Budgets 4 Citizens” (B4C) action is being implemented with the financial support of the European Union by the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, cooperation with partners “Economic Development and Research Center” (EDRC) NGO and “Agora Central Europe” NGO (Czech Republic). The Project duration is 48 months from 8 December, 2022 to 7 December, 2026.
The Overall Objective is to foster an inclusive and transparent budgetary process with Civil Society in Armenia and enhance participation of Civil Society in public budgetary processes. The target sectors of the Action are: Justice, Education, Social Sector and Agriculture.
Within the framework of the project, the expert team has already carried out a number of studies both at the national and international levels, developed a number of guidelines, researches, organized awareness seminars in both face to face and online formats, created https://budgets.am/en budget knowledge sharing platform consisting of informational and training clusters. Publicly accessible and simplified information about the budget process, as well as notices about public discussions, are regularly posted in the information cluster of the platform, with the aim to promotg the participation of civil society in this process. The Budgetary educational programs for young professionals, CSOs and Mass Media have been launched in the framework of the project as well. The online phase of the training is already being conducted through the educational cluster of the platform. Educational materials in the form of videos, text materials, questionnaires and infographics have been placed here as a result of the quality work of experts.
“Multifaceted Whistle-Blowing Promotion in Armenia” Project
In the period of 01 June 2023 – 31 March, 2024 ALA has implemented the project “Multifaceted Whistle-Blowing Promotion in Armenia” on the basis of the Open Government Partnership grant agreement, with financial support of the European Union.
The overall objective of the project was to promote the fight against corruption in Armenia, to get public support in the fight against corruption, to support the improvement of the whistleblowing system, to contribute to the change of the legal thinking and culture formed among the public in Armenia regarding whistleblowers, striving to create a positive and demanding image of the whistleblower as a citizen of Armenia.
As part of the project, a number of awareness seminars were held with representatives of all regions of the RA, and drawing and essay contests were organized, in which about 270 schoolchildren and students from all regions of the RA took part.
“Multi-Faceted OGP Action: Open Justice & Anti-Corruption Commitments” Project
From 1 December, 2023 to 31 July, 2024, the ALA has undertaken commitment to implement the Multi-Faceted OGP Action: Open Justice & Anti-Corruption Commitments” Program, which is implemented on the basis of the Open Government Partnership grant agreement, with the financial support of the European Union.
The project is aimed at providing support to the Government for the implementation of Commitments on E- Courts & Gift Registry in the framework of the OGP – Armenia National Action Plan 2022 – 2024. The program includes three components:
- Study of international experience, legal analyzes, domestic study and raising of problems based on it.
- Implementation of focus group discussions in online and face to face formats, as well as seminars on public and private dialogue, in cooperation with the RA Ministry of Justice.
- Implementation of online awareness campaigns, creation and distribution of public media products.
“Youth4Anti-Corruption”: 9th Stream of the Anti-Corruption School for Young Leaders
ALA in cooperation with the Coalition organized and implemented the 9th Stream of the Anti-Corruption School for Young Leaders. About 40 candidates from dozens of applicants, who came from both Yerevan and the regions, were selected and participated in the first online stage of the school through the e-learning platform. Then about 20 students who showed the best results continued their studies by participating in master classes and sectoral visits. At the end of the study, the students carried out individual research works, organized awareness seminars and presented the results they achieved during the study at the final outreach stage. The training was organized in 5 phases: online phase advanced training phase, practical skills development phase, public awareness phase, and final phase.
The main topics of the course were related to the stages of the anti-corruption fight, its background, corruption prevention, anti-corruption education and awareness; and the involvement of the public in the fight against corruption as a result of the awareness raising activities; the anti-corruption institutional system; international anti-corruption initiatives and documents; the integrity of the public and private sectors; the fight against corruption, the whistle-blowing system, etc. It should also be added the key topics such as national anti-corruption initiatives, legal documents, the fight against corruption and its stages, as well as the development, monitoring and evaluation of anti-corruption strategies were not left out of the scope of discussions held within the framework of the School. And, as in previous years, this year the program was concluded on 9 December, within the framework of the event dedicated to the International Anti-Corruption Day, during which the participants presented their final works and received certificates.
Presentation of the Report on Alternative Public Monitoring of the Actions of the Republic of Armenia Anti-Corruption Strategy and its Implementation Action Plan for 2019-2022 to be performed in 2021
On 11May, 2023, “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO, “Europe in Law Association” NGO, the Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia, in cooperation with the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia, presented the report on the Alternative Public Monitoring of the Actions of the Republic of Armenia Anti-Corruption Strategy and its Implementation Action Plan for 2019-2022 to be performed in 2022.
During the event the “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO, “Europe in Law Association” NGO, the Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia signed an agreement on consolidating collective efforts to develop the 5th Anti-Corruption Strategy, as well as ensuring its awareness and monitoring.
The first draft of the report was put into circulation and was also sent to the concerned competent authorities in order to collect opinions, positions and proposals regarding the project. Some of the positions and proposals of the competent authorities were accepted by the ALA and they were included in the final version of the report, which you can read here.
ALA is a member of the Civil Society Platform provided for by the European Union-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement
The platform was created in accordance with Article 366 of the European Union-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement and is a platform for meetings and exchange of opinions. It includes the representatives of civil society of the European Union, including members of the European Economic and Social Committee, and representatives of civil society organizations, trade unions and the Union of Employers’ the Republic of Armenia. The meetings of the platform are held periodically.
A meeting of representatives of the Government and the members of the EU-Armenia Civil Society Platform under the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) chaired by the Deputy Prime-Minister Mher Grigoryan was held. Representative of the ALA Mr. Marat Atovmyan, member of the EU-Armenia Civil Society Platform attended the meeting as well.
Notably, Marat Atovmyan, a member of the ALA Board, was elected a member of Civil Society Platform provided for by the European Union-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement in February 2022 and is one of the four main members.
A Working Group to support the development of the 5th Anti-Corruption Strategy of the RA was created based on the Proposal of the ALA.
On 11 February, 2023, under the chairmanship of RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the first full session of the Anti-Corruption Policy Council took place in Jermuk. President of the ALA Mr. Karen Zadoyan participated in the meeting as well. During the session, he proposed to develop the New Anti-Corruption Strategy of the RA based on the well-known international principles relating to the process of developing anti-corruption strategies, the design and content of anti-corruption strategies and the monitoring and evaluation of anti-corruption strategies defined in the Kuala Lumpur Statement on Anti-Corruption Strategies. As a result of discussion on the recommendation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, it was decided that the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, based on principles of inclusiveness, would establish a working group to develop a New Anti-Corruption Strategy of the Republic of Armenia.
ALA Representative is the Coordinator of the First Group (FG 1) of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) Civil Society Forum (CSF).
ALA representative, attorney Ms Syuzannaa Soghomonyan is the Coordinator of the First Group (FG 1) of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) Civil Society Forum (CSF)
The 12th Annual Republican Conference “Advocacy: Current State and Prospects for its Development in the Republic of Armenia”
Attaching importance to the role of legal education in the fight against corruption, the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, the Chamber of Advocates of the Republic of Armenia and the Academy of Advocates of the Republic of Armenia organized the 12th ARepublican Conference “Advocacy: Current State and Prospects for its Development in the Republic of Armenia” which was entitled “Independence of the Advocate” on 14 July 2023.
The participants of the conference presented their individual research works in two stages, in written and oral formats. The authors of the 6 reports that scored the maximum points in the written round were invited to participate in the oral round. Accordingly, 6 reports were presented during the oral round. Finally, as a result of the oral round, the winners of the Conference was selected. The winner of the special prize was announced as well. Details of the Conference are available here.
THE 2022 FINANCIAL REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL MEANS OF THE
| 2023 | ||
| Thousand. | ||
| Salaries and social insurance. | 42,460 | |
| Depreciation of fixed and intangible assets, repair and maintenance costs | 2,509 | |
| Travel and representation costs | 3,854 | |
| Mail, telecommunications | 445 | |
| Office and other utility costs | 10,808 | |
| Audit and consulting costs | 8,584 | |
| Banking costs and insurance costs | 10 | |
| Expenses for non-refundable taxes | 65 | |
| Other administrative costs | 3,458 | |
| Program costs | 28,027 | |
| Current tax expenses (income) | 34 | |
| Total | 100,255 |
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, Chairman of the ALA Board |
| Arpine Yeghikyan | Executive Secretary of the ALA Board |
| Marat Atovmyan | Member of the ALA Board |
| Zaruhi Harutyunyan | Member of the ALA Board |
| Karen Kocharyan | Member of the ALA Board |
CONTACT DATA
|
Central Office 7 Nalbandyan Str., Suite 2, Yerevan Telephone: (374 10) 540199 Fax: (374 10) 580299 E-mail: [email protected] |
ALA Yerevan Branch, Anti-Corruption Center of Yerevan 7 Nalbandyan Str., Suite 2, Yerevan (entrance from the yard) Telephone: (374 10) 540199 Fax: (374 10) 580299 Hot Line: 0 8000 11 10 E-mail: |
|
ALA Lori Regional Branch, Anti-Corruption Center of Lori Marz 82 Vardanants Str., #1, Vanadzor Telephone: (374 322) 2 23 17 Fax: (374 322) 2 23 17 E-mail: [email protected] |
ALA Shirak Regional Branch, Anti-Corruption Center of Shirak Marz 1 Tigran Mets Str., # 2, Gyumri Telephone: (374 312) 5 82 36 Fax: (374 312) 5 82 36 E-mail: [email protected] |