Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

“Legal Clinic” participants attach great importance to implementation of such programs in the Republic of Armenia. In participants’ opinion, “Legal Clinic” deepens professional knowledge and helps novice lawyers acquire new knowledge and practical skills in the human rights sphere. This year, participants also have an opportunity to study new topics concerning freedom of conscience and thought, rights of national minorities, freedom of assembly and the right to property.

On 23 October 2021, Legal Clinic 2021 was launched.

In connection with the Covid-19 pandemic, this year the program is held remotely, too, and includes 13 participants from the whole territory of the Republic of Armenia.

Legal Clinic has been held since 2013, more than 100 lawyers have been trained in the frame of the program, some of whom successfully apply the knowledge obtained in the professional sphere.

Program participants are students, graduates, teachers and acting lawyers from Tavush, Syunik, Gegharkunik, Kotayk, Lori and Yerevan.

Participants learnt about the program from their friends, acquaintances and the internet. They note, “We have heard positive opinions and decided to participate”.

Igor Ghazaryan participated in the program at the suggestion of his friend. “I’m very pleased with how Clinic is progressing, I’m acquiring practical knowledge. I really like how the trainings are conducted”, he says.

Law department students participating in the program state that Legal Clinic gives more profound knowledge than the university, they combine the knowledge obtained from Legal Clinic trainings with the knowledge obtained in the frame of university subjects and deepen them even more.

Legal adviser on domestic violence issues Dzaynik Srapyan, who works in Gegharkunik province General Jurisdiction Court and “Martuni Women’s Community Council” NGO, deepened her professional knowledge due to the training on domestic violence in the frame of the program.

The knowledge obtained during the Legal Clinic helps social science teacher Marine Khumaryan deepen her insight into professional issues and teach them to her pupils.

Legal Clinic coordinator and HCA Vanadzor lawyer Ani Chatinyan mentions that this year the program is special in that it is being implemented remotely, which makes it available on the whole territory of the Republic of Armenia. 

Year by year the program’s thematic coverage changes and expands. Participants of this flow of Legal Clinic also have trainings on freedom of conscience and thought, rights of national minorities,  freedom of assembly and right to property. Though those topics were included during the first years of the program, over time they gave way to more relevant topics. This year we decided to expand topics of the trainings and include all Convention rights.

The aim of the program is to improve professional capacities of young lawyers in human rights protection and collection of human rights information.

We will soon present all our trainers and participants and tell more about them.