The RA Chamber of Advocates in response to the Recommendations Submitted by the PRWB

On July 27 of 2017, the RA Chamber of Advocates presented the response to the letter submitted by the PRWB.

In the letter, the Chamber of Advocates expressed their gratitude to the Organization for the readiness to share the burden of advocates’ rights.

The Chamber of Advocates informed, that they have repeatedly touched upon the question raised by the Organization and the mentioned problems are under everyday control of the Chamber of Advocates. Particularly, the Chamber of Advocates applied to the RA Police to examine the case regarding the use of violence by the Police towards the advocates near the building of court, as well to bring them to responsibility. As for the examination of the advocates, the Chamber of Advocates evaluated the issue of examining the belongings of advocates unacceptable. The Rapid Response Team of the Chamber Advocates operates to detect and prevent the potential adverse events during attempts to investigate advocates.

In response to the Organization’s recommendation to refrain from the application of disciplinary sanctions against the advocates, the Chamber of Advocates has informed, the Chamber is also in charge to conduct control over the maintenance of the requirements as prescribed by the RA Law on “Advocacy”, the Order of the Chamber of Advocates, as well as the Code of Conduct of the Advocates by its members.

The Chamber of Advocates has informed, that the recommendation to refrain the advocates from the application of disciplinary sanctions submitted by Organization, is not only groundless and does not follow the legislation regulating the sector, but also can be evaluated as an undue intervention to the exercise of the RA Chamber of Advocate’s functions as an independent and self-governing body.

It should be noted, that on July of 2017, an information note on “The Crisis of Human Rights and Justice in Armenia during the Months of January-July of 2017” was elaborated by the Protection of Rights without Border NGO.

The information note elaborated by the Organization, which also includes a package of recommendation, has been submitted to the respective bodies, including the Chamber of Advocates of Armenia, the Office of the Human Rights Defender, Judicial Department, Judicial Council, Prosecutor General’s Office, and Police etc., with the expectation to reach the justification of the presented continuous violations and ensurance of full respect to human rights. Information regarding the criminal persecution instituted against the participants of “Sasna Tsrer” group activities and other related events, as well as the human rights violations during the trial on the case of Vahan Shirkhanyan and especially the rights related to the violations of fair trial were presented in the Information Note. Particularly, the issue regarding the legality of the examination of the advocates’ personal belongings from the point of Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (right to respect for private life),  as well as the application of judicial sanctions against the advocates and convictes and their removal from court rooms from the point of the right to fair trail.

The RA Chamber of Advocates in response to the Recommendations Submitted by the PRWB