Draft Law "On national minorities" discussed with state bodies and stakeholders

A working discussion on the draft Law "On national minorities" was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Minister of Justice Karen Karapetyan and Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Rustam Bakoyan. Welcoming the attendees, the Deputy Minister presented the work being carried out on the draft Law "On national minorities" and noted that it is aimed at enshrining legislative guarantees for national minorities to exercise their rights. The Deputy Minister also attached importance to the dialogue with the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia for betterment of the Draft. Rustam Bakoyan stressed the importance of close co-operation between the executive and legislative authorities in the area of human rights protection and expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Justice for the fruitful co-operation. During the discussion, the consultants of the Council of Europe Directorate General of Democracy and Human Dignity presented the Joint Opinion of the Venice Commission and the CoE Directorate General on the draft Law, as well as answered questions on addressing the issues stated in the Joint Opinion. The Deputies of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, representatives of the staff and other attendees also shared their observations on the draft Law. At the end of the event, the recommendations on the draft Law were summed up, and the future steps were predetermined.