“RA Association of Judges” non-governmental organization (hereinafter Association) was founded in April, 1997. The members of the Association are the judges of RA Courts of all instances.
From 1997-2003 the Chairman of the Association was Alvina Gyulumyan, a judge of RA Constitutional Court (a former judge of the European Court of Human Rights).
From 2003-2017 the Chairman of the Association was Hrachik Sargsyan, Chairman of the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction of Armavir Marz.
From 2017-2020 the Chairman of the Association was Yervand Khundkaryan, Chairman of the Cassation Court, Honorary lawyer of the RA.
From the first days of the creation of the Association, “Judicial power” (previously “Law newspaper”), scientific-methodical journal started to be published. From amongst the legally oriented media, the “Judicial Power” was the first to touch upon the judicial practice.
Since 2004 the “Judicial power” journal has been included in the list of journals acceptable for the publication of the results of candidate dissertations, approved by RA Highest Qualification Committee.
The journal is being published with a steady periodicity. Practical lawyers, gifted young people who aspire to fill the ranks of legal scholars of the Republic, appear in the journal.
The “Judicial power” is one of the rare journals, where mostly Armenian judges appear with their scientific articles dedicated to the theoretical and practical main issues of various branches of right. The Chairman of the scientific editorial Council of the journal is Lilit Tadevosyan, chairman of the Cassation Court of the RA, Doctor of Law, Professor, Honored Lawyer of the RA. Seventeen lawyers are included in the composition of the Council, judges of different court instances of the RA, legal scholars. From 2018 till now Editor-in-chief of the journal is Vahe Yengibaryan, Doctor of Law, Professor, Professor of the Chamber of Criminal Procedure and Criminalistics of YSU.
The journal periodically touches upon the main issues of the judicial system, judicial practice, commercial, international, constitutional, civil, civil-procedural, criminal, criminal-procedural rights, judicial supervision over pre-trial proceedings and many other legal issues in separate sections.
After the adoption of Criminal and Civil Procedures, new Criminal and Civil Codes and other legislations, a necessity arose to constantly interpret the norms of the mentioned laws scientifically. Being the only periodical of the Association of Judges, it has published the Decisions of precedent importance of RA Council of Courts Chairmen and of the two Chambers of RA Court of Cassation. The journal also illustrates memorable events, including those related to judges' birthdays, rewards, ceremonies on conferring of titles, etc.
It has become a tradition to organize anniversaries of appreciation of merit and celebration events of honor of retiring judges, organization of congratulatory messages. Since 2018, in the journal as a novelty there has been provided under separate heading the illustration of the case-law decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, as well as the illustration of recent developments in case-law practice in Armenian.
Association Board meetings, other festive ceremonies, events are held in the office of the Association. Currently the Association Board has nine members, who are involved in various sub-commissions of the Association Board. Association Board has its own regulation of activities which was approved by the 31.07.2017 decision of the Board.
Various issues on the judicial system and on the protection of judges' rights are being discussed and relevant decisions adopted in the sessions of the Association Board.
For the purpose of protection of judges' rights, in different years the Association Board appeared with responsive announcements in mass media, to the issues related to the courts' activities.
From 19-24 November 2005, the issue of the membership of RA Association of Judges was in the agenda of the 48th conference of the International Association of Judges, which took place in Montevideo, capital of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay. In March 2004, the RA Association of Judges applied with a request for membership expressing a wish to be a full-fledged member of the International Association of Judges. The issue of the membership of RA Association of Judges had been discussed in Rome, in the Central Council of the Association, and it was decided to invite the delegation of RA Association of Judges to the 48th conference. From Armenia Hrachik Sargsyan, Chairman of RA Association of Judges and Tigran Sahakyan, Chairman of RA Criminal Court of Appeal left for Montevideo.
In the conference session in 23 November, Giacomo Oberto, Deputy Secretary General of the International Association of Judges, judge at the Court of Turino City, presented the application of RA Association of Judges to the judgment of more than 200 judges, participants of the conference, arrived from various countries of the world. The conference was unanimous, and RA Association of Judges became the 68th member of the international organization.
In September 2007 the 50th anniversary annual conference of the International Association of Judges took place in Trondheim city in Norway, in which also participated the delegation of the Association of Judges of the Republic of Armenia.
According to the Regulation of the International Association of Judges, in the annual meeting, also the issue of the selection of place for holding the next annual meeting was discussed amongst other issues.
Associations of Judges of the Republic of Armenia, Spain, Romania, Morocco and Kazakhstan submitted a tender for holding the annual general meeting of 2008. As a result of the examination of initial tenders in the Committee of Chairmen, Associations of Judges of the Republic of Armenia, Spain and Romania were presented to the Central Council as candidate members of 2008. Discussing the suggestions of the three countries, the Central Council, by a closed secret ballot selected the Republic of Armenia as an organizing country of the annual general meeting of 2008.
Thus, for the first time in the whole region and in the territory of CIS from 7-11 September, 2008 THE 51ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF JUDGES took place in Armenia, where more than 216 judges participated who arrived in Armenia from 53 countries of the world.
Within more than 20 years of its activities, the Association has organized multiple conferences, round-tables, thematic discussions, and has published more than 200 pieces of scholarly literature, which come mostly as scientific-practical manuals.
1. To contribute to the protection of judges' rights, freedoms, honor and dignity, as well as to ensure their safety.
2. To promote strengthening the independence and authority of the judicial power and judges, as well as the development of an independent judiciary.
3. To contribute to raising the level of public perception of the mission of the judiciary, to strengthening society's trust in the judiciary and judges, and to guaranteeing the rule of law.
4. To assist in the training of the Association's members, in the improvement of their qualification and the exchange of professional experience through the organization of conferences, seminars and other professional gatherings for lawyers.
5. To participate in the drafting of legal acts.
6. To ensure ties and cooperation with domestic, international and foreign organizations, including associations of judges of foreign countries and international associations of judges, educational institutions, and publishing organizations in the field of law.
7. To publish periodicals, to support the publication and dissemination of scientific works in the field of law, as well as legal literature.
8. To promote the organization of non-professional events for the Association's members, including various cultural and leisure activities.
As a non-governmental organization, the Association actively cooperates with both local and international non-governmental organizations and structures. In addition, within the scope of its Charter, the Association also cooperates with state and local self-governing bodies of the Republic of Armenia.
The Association's cooperation with local and international structures and organizations began within the framework of the publication of the scientific-methodical journal "Judicial Power" (previously "Law newspaper"). Various international organizations have continuously supported the publication of the journal. The journal was published for a long time with the support of the Armenian office of the American Bar Association ABA/CEELI (now ABA/ROLI). Subsequently, the cooperation continued with the UN Programme on Drug Control in the South Caucasus, the BearingPoint USAID Economic Regulation Programs, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).
Currently the "Judicial Power" journal is published with the Association's own financial resources.
Through the joint efforts of the Council of Europe and the Association, nine collections of translated judgments of the European Court of Human Rights have been published.
In cooperation with the Council of Europe, works dedicated to Articles 5, 6, 9 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention have been published in recent years, as well as the "English-Armenian, Armenian-English Dictionary of Terms of the European Convention on Human Rights," the "Human Rights Handbook for Prosecutors," and other publications.
Seminars and training courses on topics of European law have also been organized for the judges of the Republic of Armenia.
This cooperation continues today, with various events planned to be dedicated to different articles of the European Convention, as well as to the current issues of the case-law practice of the European Court.
For the purpose of fulfilling its statutory objectives — ensuring public awareness on legal issues, raising the authority of the judicial system within society, and strengthening trust in it — the Association, with the support of the Armenian office of the American Bar Association ABA/CEELI, published a ten-volume family library in 2002.
In 2005, with the assistance of the Armenian office of the American Bar Association ABA/CEELI, the Association published the RA Judicial Code of Conduct. In 2007, by a joint decision of the Ethics Committee of the RA Council of Court Chairmen and the Board of the RA Association of Judges, a commentary to the RA Judicial Code of Conduct was published, the presentation of which took place on July 25, 2007.
As a result of cooperation with the BearingPoint USAID Economic Regulation Program, the manual "Corporate Law" and the second volume of the collection of decisions and rulings of the RA Economic Court were published and distributed free of charge to the Association's members.
As a result of cooperation with the World Council of Churches Round Table Foundation, more than 10 manuals were published on "Right to Religion," "Right to Education," "Access to Justice," and other legal topics. Within the framework of cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the "Mission Armenia" charitable non-governmental organization, under the program "Improving the Quality of the Asylum System in the RA: Strategy for Integration into the Judicial System," the 10th volume of the "Collection of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights" was published, as well as the scientific-practical analysis "International Legal and Domestic Issues of the Institute of Extradition."
Within the framework of cooperation with the OSCE Yerevan Office, numerous works have been published, including "Legal, Theoretical and Practical Foundations of Judicial Supervision over Pre-Trial Proceedings, Modern Developments and Ways of Improvement," "Current Issues of Legal Assistance in Criminal Cases in the Republic of Armenia," and the 1st and 2nd volumes of scientific-practical commentaries on the decisions of the Criminal Chamber of the RA Court of Cassation. In 2017, the Association provided financial support for the publication of the 3rd volume of the scientific-practical commentary on the decisions of the Criminal Chamber of the RA Court of Cassation.
Within the framework of cooperation with various organizations and structures, the RA Association of Judges also actively participates in the discussion of draft laws and submits relevant proposals, the majority of which are adopted by the legislative body. For this purpose, seminars, conferences, and discussions are organized.
As a result of negotiations with the RA Academy of Justice, new avenues of cooperation have been developed.
The RA Association of Judges actively cooperates with the Faculty of Law of YSU, the RA Union of Lawyers, and the Chamber of Advocates of the RA.
Since 2008, the RA Association of Judges has been a full member of the International Association of Judges, which has raised the Association's international standing and expanded its international ties. This is also evidenced by the fact that the 51st Annual Conference of the International Association of Judges was held in Armenia, an unprecedented event for the region.
In 2017, during his visit to the Federal Republic of Germany, the Chairman of the Association, Yervand Khundkaryan, met with Jens Gnisa, President of the German Association of Judges. During the meeting, the formation and characteristics of the activities of the judges' associations of the two countries, as well as the prospects for cooperation between the structures, were discussed.
Close ties have been established with the International Association of Women Judges, and as a result of this cooperation, three judges were sent to participate in the 14th biennial International Conference on the theme "Building Bridges Among the Women Judges of the World," which took place on May 2-8, 2018, in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina.
In the near future, it is planned to expand cooperation with other structures in order to implement new programs in case-law, European, commercial, copyright and other branches of law, with the aim of supporting the improvement of judicial practice in the mentioned fields. As a result of cooperation with the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ) in 2017-2018, the Association's official website was modified and relaunched in accordance with the latest information technology solutions.
