On 14–15 May 2026, the International Advocates’ Forum “Kharkiv Unbreakable – 2026” was held online, organised by Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University (Kharkiv, Ukraine). The Forum was dedicated to the rule of law, international standards of justice, and the European integration of the legal profession.
The event brought together leading jurists from around the world, including the former President of the European Court of Human Rights Robert Spano, the President of the Constitutional Court of Belgium Luc Lavrysen, the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Margaret Satterthwaite, the former Minister of Justice of Poland Adam Bodnar, the President of the Milan Bar Association Antonino La Lumia, the President of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) Roman Završek, as well as representatives from Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain, Germany, Sweden, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Morocco, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Georgia and other countries.
On 15 May, Armenia was represented at the Forum by Mariam Zadoyan, Senior Attorney of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, who delivered a presentation on “Anti-Corruption Compliance Programs as Grounds for Exemption from Corporate Criminal Liability: International Standards and the Armenian Perspective“.
In her speech, Ms. Zadoyan argued that compliance is not merely a matter of corporate governance but one of the most rapidly expanding frontiers of the legal profession itself — a field that places the independence of lawyers, legal professional privilege, and professional ethics at its very centre. The speaker presented the key models of international experience.
Turning to the Armenian context, the speaker noted that the new Criminal Code, adopted in 2021, marked a historic reform: for the first time, Armenia introduced the criminal liability of legal persons, including for corruption and economic offences. Ms. Zadoyan provided a detailed analysis of the Criminal Code, which set out the grounds for the exclusion of and release from liability, emphasising that Armenia still lacks detailed criteria comparable to the European best practices.
The speaker particularly highlighted the role of the Armenian Bar, calling for active participation in the elaboration of secondary legislation, the training of judges and prosecutors, and the development of model compliance frameworks for small and medium-sized enterprises.