On March 17, 2025, representatives of sectoral civil society organizations, the National Assembly, the Supreme Court of Armenia, and the Ministry of Justice gathered for the presentation of the study titled “The Actio Popularis Institute in Armenia’s Legal System: Challenges and Solutions.”
Speakers of the event included: Genya Petrosyan, Director of the LDPF, Heriknaz Tigranyan, Chair of the Standing Committee on Labor and Social Affairs of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Lisa Grigoryan, Judge of the Supreme Court of Armenia, Mariam Chiflikyan, Expert from the Legislative Development Center Foundation of the Ministry of Justice, Sona Ayvazyan, Director of Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center, Artur Sakunts, Director of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor, Elina Gyurjyan, Legal Expert at the LDPF.
Genya Petrosyan presented the key findings of the research on the principle of Actio Popularis, drawing from comparative international practices. She also emphasized certain regressions in ongoing legislative proposals, which according to her undermine the commitment outlined in Armenia’s National Human Rights Action Plan to expand the Actio Popularis mechanism.
The presentation included proposals from civil society organizations to define public interest domains in legislation without providing an exhaustive list, thereby ensuring flexibility. It also stressed the importance of recognizing civil society organizations’ right — under the Administrative Procedure Code — to challenge the legality of normative legal acts.
The recommendations covered a range of fields where legal standing should be granted to public organizations, including: Prevention and elimination of discrimination, Protection of cultural heritage, Oversight of processes involving public interest, Urban development programs, Use of public resources, Protection of prisoners' rights, Consumer protection, Political finance and elections, Defense of economic competition, Public oversight of government institutions and other areas of public interest
It was emphasized that not only NGOs, but also foundations and other non-profit entities should be granted legal standing in these areas.
Participants also discussed the necessity of amending the Criminal Procedure Code to allow public organizations to represent the interests of victims — including through non-lawyer representatives particularly in areas such as environmental protection and the rights of persons with disabilities. The need to remove existing legal restrictions in these fields was also addressed.
Heriknaz Tigranyan presented the revised legislative drafts, which include more progressive provisions compared to earlier versions. However, participants once again stressed the need for further improvement especially by expanding the scope of public interest domains and avoiding exhaustive lists in the legislation.
The discussion featured engaging and substantive contributions from all participants. At the conclusion of the meeting, it was agreed that collaboration between civil society and legislative stakeholders would continue into the next stages of the legislative development process.
This event was organized within the framework of the “CSO Meter in Action” project, implemented with the financial support of the European Union, and in cooperation with ECNL and partners from Eastern Partnership countries
