Revision and improvement of the right of persons declared as having no active legal capacity to access of justice are envisaged — Karen Karapetyan receives representatives of civil society

Deputy Minister of Justice Karen Karapetyan received Chairperson of Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor Office NGO Artur Sakunts.

The meeting was devoted to the discussion on potential co-operation with the Ministry of Justice within the scope of the "Rights, Services, and Participation: Fostering a Comprehensive Mental Health Framework in Armenia” Project funded by the European Union and being implemented by non-governmental organisations and the "Armenian Association of Mental Health"; the Project is aimed at improving the legislation and the practice in the field of mental health.

Director of Democracy Development Foundation Naira Sultanyan, Programme Coordinator Davit Aghabekyan and President of "Disability Rights Agenda" NGO Mushegh Hovsepyan participated in the meeting.

Karen Karapetyan expressed gratitude to the representatives of the civil society for the fruitful job that they are doing with the Ministry of Justice in different directions. Touching upon the reforms envisaged in the field of mental health, the Deputy Minister touched upon the activities to be implemented jointly with the Office of the Representative on International Legal Matters within the framework of execution of the judgment of the ECtHR in the Case of "Nikolyan v. Armenia" with regard to the improvement of institutions of no active legal capacity and limited legal capacity. The Deputy Minister also stated that the 2023-2025 Action Plan for the National Strategy on Human Rights Protection provides for revision and improvement of the legal regulations associated with the right of persons declared as having no active legal capacity to access to justice. Karen Karapetyan emphasised the importance of the expertise potential of non-governmental organisations in terms of providing assistance to the Government both for developing draft legislative amendments and for conducting training courses for judges and forensic psychiatry experts. Deputy Head of the Office of the Representative on International Legal Matters Anna Shahnazaryan touched upon the initiatives envisaged for improvement of the institution of no active legal capacity and stressed the importance of effective dialogue with civil society organisations in this process. Representatives of non-governmental organisations also expressed gratitude to the Deputy Minister, highlighting the high level of co-operation with the Ministry of Justice, and presented the key points of the Project being implemented and the major actions planned. At the end of the meeting, an agreement was reached on co-operation within the scope of the Project, and the upcoming actions to be taken in this direction were predetermined.