FIRST LONDON-YEREVAN TV BRIDGE HELD BETWEEN LAWYERS
13-05-2008 18:10:00 | Armenia | Social
YEREVAN, MAY 13, NOYAN TAPAN. The first London-Yerevan TV
bridge held between Armenian and British lawyers, as Ruben
Sahakian, the Chairman of the RA Chamber of Lawyers, explained,
is implemented under a program aimed at assisting Armenian
lawyers in the issue of introducing more literate, high-quality
complaints to the European Court. "It is a unique way of
exchanging experience, which will reduce the financial
expenditures," the Chamber Chairman said adding that there is
already an agreement to develop similar cooperation with lawyers
of France and Belgium. R. Sahakian also said that on May 12 the
RA Chamber of Lawyers uniting 718 lawyers will become an
observing member of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of
Europe (CCBE) (only country-members of the European Union can
become a full member of it), representatives of that
international lawyer structure will visit Armenia in September.
R. Sahakian expressed satisfaction with the fact that soon the
Armenian Chamber of Lawyers, in its turn, will be able to assist
its Karabakh colleagues, to hold seminars with a number of
post-Soviet countries.
The TV bridge was held within the framework of the
memorandum of cooperation in the spheres of human rights and
permanent law education signed between the British East-West
Centre organization and the RA Chamber of Lawyers in January
2007.
All technical means for holding the TV bridge were got with
the financing of the Embassy of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland in RA. The program was worked out
with the joint efforts of the latter, the British East-West
Centre, and RA lawyers in consideration of the proposals of
lawyers having introduced complaints to the European Court of
Human Rights. The program's goal is to be in a direct contact
through Internet with London lawyers specialized in the issue of
applying to the European Court, to hold with them discussions of
Armenian lawyers' questions regarding concrete cases.
Among the seven questions raised during the TV bridge was,
in particular, the question of whether the relatives of Murad
Bojolian sentenced with the accusation of espionage can
introduce a claim of additional compensation of expenditures to
the European Court, negligence in connection with institution of
a case against a lawyer, the issue of applying to the European
Court with the basis of violation of the reasonable terms of case
examination, and the bases and details of applying to the
European Court in connection with other cases.
The case on the fact of dismissing a YSU political science
lecturer for expressing an anti-governmental position was also
touched upon. In this connection the British specialists
expressed an opinion that the basis of Article 6 of the
Convention, the right of fair judicial enquiry, would be liable
if we had a person carrying out a state function: according to
the British specialists, a lecturer does not carry out a state
function. On the occasion of the case they can apply to the
European Court with the basis of Article 10 of the Convention,
freedom of expression.