Mushegh Manukyan, General Director of ADR Partners and ADR Partners arbitrators Aram Orbelyan and Yeghishe Kirakosyan are involved in a Project aimed at strengthening the independence, professionalism and accountability of the Armenian judiciary. The program is jointly funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and is implemented by the Council of Europe.

The Project will provide new mechanisms in the field of alternative dispute resolution systems, and improvement of the existing systems. Prior to the implementation of large-scale actions it is planned to carry out a research on revealing the problems and review of case studies, which during the month of February has been implemented by a working group including also international experts.

The Project aims to implement the mediation and arbitration-related reforms referred to the Decree dated June 30, 2012 of the President of the Republic of Armenia. In particular, in terms of mediation, it is aimed to promote the alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and ensure the opportunity to provide mediation. The goal of the Project is to study the international experience for the purpose of introducing a system which will enable courts of first instance to refer civil cases to mediation, to prepare the necessary legislative framework for establishment of mediation as a legal institution as well as to train qualified mediators. The law on mediation will be introduces in two legislative packages, one of which will be presented to the National Assembly in March, 2015. The second will envisage broader regulation in order to promote effective implementation of mediation in practice.

It is also planned to improve and promote alternative dispute resolution mechanisms through arbitration, to organize arbitration-related topic discussions and workshops in training programs for judges, to develop principles of ethics for arbitrators and principles required to be incorporated in standard arbitration rules.

Special attention will be paid also to the RA law on “Commercial Arbitration” of December 25, 2006, for the purpose of correcting its shortcomings and solving the many problems that arise in practice and which seriously impede the development of arbitration in Armenia.

Experts of the Project, R. Cruz, Y. Kirakosyan, and COE Armenian office’s representative N. Gasparyan have visited ADR Partners office to meet with Aida Avanessian, the director of arbitration, who shared her thoughts about the draft law on RA Commercial arbitration on interim measures and ethics.