The Human
Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of Armenia
Head
of the National Preventive Mechanism under the UN OPCAT
Elected by the Parliament for a
period of 6 years (02/2016 – present)
I. EDUCATION
University of
Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia PA
Master of Laws,
LL.M (08/2012 – 05/2013)
University of
Pennsylvania Business (Wharton) School, Philadelphia PA
Business and Law
Certificate Program, the Wharton School Executive Education (09/2012-12/2012)
University of
Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia PA
Award:
Distinguished Member of the Penn Law LL.M Class of 2013 (05/2013)
Yerevan
State University, Law Faculty, Republic of Armenia
Post-graduate
study (09/2004
– 06/2007)
Department
of Criminal Procedure and Criminalistics, Law Faculty
Academic
degree: Doctor of
Law (Ph.D. in Law), Associate professor
Yerevan
State University, Law Faculty, Republic of Armenia
Master
of Jurisprudence (Diploma – summa cum laude) (09/2002 – 06/2004)
Department
of Criminal Procedure and Criminalistics
Yerevan
State University, Law Faculty, Republic of Armenia
Bachelor of Law (Diploma – summa cum laude) (06/2002)
II.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Human Rights Defender
(Ombudsman) of Armenia
Head of the National
Preventive Mechanism under the UN OPCAT
Elected by the
Parliament for a period of 6 years (02/2016 – present)
European Court of
Human Rights
Ad hoc Judge (06/2016
– present)
Ministry of Justice of
the Republic of Armenia
Deputy Minister (11/2013 –
02/2016)
Main responsibilities:
- Implementation of the Council
of Europe and the UN Anti-Torture Committees’ (CPT, CAT, SPT) standards in
the legal system of Armenia, drafting relevant legal acts (National Focal
Point);
- Coordinating Implementation of
the National Human Rights Strategy and its Action Plan (National
Coordinator);
- Officially Representing the
Government in the Parliament on Criminal Justice reforms;
- Leading the development of the
new Criminal Procedure Code, the new Criminal Code and the new
Penitentiary Code of Armenia (this also includes personal involvement in
drafting the draft codes);
- Leading legislative reforms on
domestic violence and prevention of any type of discrimination;
- Coordinating relations with
International donor organizations (including fundraising activities with the
EU, CoE, UNDP, USAID) and foreign states with regard to the above listed
responsibilities.
Deputy Representative
(Deputy Agent) of the Government of Armenia before the European
Court of Human Rights (11/2013 – 02/2016)
Main responsibilities:
- Representing the country before
the European Court (both before the Chamber and the Grand Chamber);
- Participation in the hearings
held by the European Court ;
- Responsible for the execution
of the European Court judgments (individual and general measures).
Council of Europe,
Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law
Permanent
International Adviser/Expert, on ad-hoc basis (03/2013 to present)
Public Monitoring
Commissions (PMC) and Torture Prevention in Russian Federation
European Committee for
the Prevention of Torture (CPT), Council of Europe
Member in respect of
Armenia, elected by the Committee of Ministers (12/2011 – 11/2013)
Participation in CPT
plenary meetings, monitoring visits to the Council of Europe’s member states
Member of the special
WG on life-sentenced prisoners
Yerevan State
University, Faculty of Law
Department of Criminal
Procedure and Criminalistics
Visiting
Professor (09/2005
to present)
Academic Courses:
- European Standards of Human
Rights Protection in Criminal Procedure of the Republic of Armenia;
- Criminal Procedure of the
Republic of Armenia;
- Preventive Measures in Criminal
Procedure.
American
University of Armenia
Visiting
Professor (09/2013
to present)
Academic Courses (conducted in English):
- The Justice System of the
Republic of Armenia;
- Introduction to Human Rights.
Academy of Justice of
Armenia
Visiting
Professor (01/2014
to present)
Academic and Practical Course for Judges and
Prosecutors:
- Implementation of Human Rights
Standards in Criminal Justice of Armenia
International
Review Mechanism for the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), UNODC
Member
of the International Expert Team in respect of Armenia (10/2010 –
11/2013)
On-site visits to the UNCAC member-states
Working Group for
Drafting the New Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia, under the
Decree of the President of the Republic of Armenia
Member (09/2010 – 05/2015)
- Drafting the Concept of the RA
New Criminal Procedure Code (approved on by the Government 10.03.2011);
- Drafting the RA new Criminal
Procedure Code (draft is already pending for the Parliamentary readings).
Working
Group for Drafting the new Anti-Corruption Strategy of Armenia
Member/Representative
from the Ministry of Justice (11/2013 – 04/2014)
- Drafting the Anti-Corruption
Strategy and define principles for drafting the line action plans
(approved by the Government on 10.04.2014)
Constitutional Court
of the Republic of Armenia
Adviser
to the President and the Court (04/2010 – 11/2013)
- Preparing conclusions on draft
judicial acts of the Court on criminal law and criminal justice issues;
- Proposing recommendations for
improving the national legal system and applying the case-law of the
European Court of Human Rights.
United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Armenia
Supporting
Integrated Border Management (IBM) in the South Caucasus (EU
funded)
Coordinator
of Legal Component/Expert (05/2010-07/2012)
- Assessing
the compliance of the national IBM related legislation with international
and EU standards;
- Supporting the improvement of
human rights protection guarantees at border crossing points, provide
recommendations to improve legal acts on combating crimes and other
offences at borders.
- Ensuring cooperation in legal
matters with other organisations (e.g. OSCE, UNODC, etc.).
OSCE Office in
Yerevan/Human Rights Unit
Programme on
Prosecution Service Reform
National Legal Exert
(08/2011-11/2011)
- Analyzing national and
international regulatory framework on Prosecution Service and provide
recommendations for further legislative improvement;
- Prepare a report on the reform
of the Armenian prosecution service together with the OSCE international
expert (a Canadian Prosecutor).
The
RA Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) as a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM)
Legal Director (03/2009-03/2011)
- Visiting Closed Institutions
(Prisons, Psychiatric Establishments, etc.);
- Providing recommendations for
effectivly combating prison overcrowding and any form of ill-treatment;
- Responsible for drafting the
Human Rights Defender’s annual and ad-hoc reports as NPM;
- Drafting the Charter of the
Anti-Torture Expert Council adjunct to the RA Human Rights Defender
(cooperation with NGOs).
UNDP
programme for the RA Human Rights Defender on
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