Armenia
The following Justice Initiative projects are underway in, or relevant to, Armenia:
Freedom of Information and Expression
Armenia: Changes to law threaten freedom of information
New York, February 25, 2004—Proposed amendments to the Armenian Freedom of Information (FOI) law threaten to undermine the right of access to information just five months after it was adopted. In a letter to the Armenian Parliament, the Open Society Justice Initiative called for the amendments to be withdrawn and for a renewed commitment to implementing the existing FOI law. Also see Freedom of Information Civic Initiative's Statement on FOI Law.
Regional: Freedom of Information Law Implementation, Legal Advice, Litigation and Monitoring Tool
Justice Initiative FOI implementation projects include legal advice and litigation in Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania and Peru. Litigation challenging government refusals to provide requested information has been a traditional tool of activists interested in making freedom of information laws work in countries that have them. The Justice Initiative is currently working with partners to provide legal advice and pursue litigation in Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania and Peru. The Justice Initiative has developed an “Access to Information Monitoring Tool” which permits evaluation of national FOI law implementation and comparative assessment between countries. This instrument is currently being tested in a pilot project encompassing Armenia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Peru and South Africa.
International Justice
Georgia and the Southern Caucasus: Rome Statute progress in a difficult region
Following Georgia’s successful ratification of the Rome Statute, the Open Society Justice Initiative participated in the organization of a Workshop on the Ratification and Implementation of the Rome Statute of the ICC in the Southern Caucasus. On February 29 and March 1, 2004, in Tbilisi, the meeting gathered together experts, officials and key organizations from Armenia and Azerbaijan to discuss in depth the experience of Georgia, and to identify solutions to potential legal and political difficulties that may arise in Armenia and Azerbaijan. With informed and dedicated officials, academics and NGOs present in each country, it is hoped that Armenia and Azerbaijan will soon join Georgia in the ICC’s Assembly of States Parties.
Regional: Bringing the ICC to Countries of the Southern Caucasus
Report on a workshop on the ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in the Southern Caucasus, February 29-March 1, 2004. Organized by the Institute of European Law and International Law of Human Rights at the State University of the Republic of Georgia (Tbilisi) with support and assistance from the Open Society Justice Initiative, the Open Society Policy Center the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation–Armenia and the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation–Azerbaijan.
Anticorruption
Armenia: 2003 Parliamentary Elections
Together with Assistance Foundation Armenia, the Justice Initiative has funded the monitoring prioject for the 2003 parliamentary elections in Armenia. From March to June 2003, the Center for Regional Development/Transparency International Armenia (CRD-TIA) carried out its Monitoring of Parties' Campaign Finances during the 2003 Parliamentary Elections project. The overall objective of the project was to create a demand for transparency and accountability of political parties, promote public debates, and generate civil society pressure to ensure equal and fair elections and induce changes in the politicians' behavior.
Legal Capacity Development
Regional: Litigation Training and Support Program
The Justice Initiative continues to support training programs launched in 2001 for human rights lawyers from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in partnership with Interights and the Netherlands Helsinki Committee. The program consists of a series of five practical and interactive sessions, ranging between four and seven days in length, for carefully selected small groups of lawyers from each country of the south Caucasus. Twenty-one human rights lawyers from Georgia completed the program in April 2003. Identical programs will start in Armenia in the fall of 2003 and in Azerbaijan in 2004, with the support of Justice Initiative, the relevant Soros national foundations and the Dutch Government.
Regional: Clinical Legal Education
Through careful allocation of resources the Justice Initiative will strive to capitalize on progress in countries where clinics have achieved rapid growth, while helping to promote clinical education in places where the idea has yet to take off. High quality clinics have emerged in Armenia, Hungary, Latvia, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland and Russia, and there have been promising developments in Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania and Romania. Legal Clinic at Law Faculty, Yerevan State University is the Justice Initiative's partner institution.
Regional: Teacher Training Program
The Justice Initiative presently organizes two teacher-training sessions per year—for Russian-speaking from the former Soviet Union and Mongolia and for English-speaking audiences from central and east Europe. Training sessions in 2003 focus on Challenges of Teaching Trial Advocacy Skills and Professional Ethics. The Russian-language session took place in Yerevan, Armenia, on 2-4 May 2003. Thirty participants took part, mainly from the former Soviet Union and Mongolia.