A Visit to Taush region

On December 22, 2009, the employees of HCA Vanadzor visited Ijevan and Dilijan towns of Lori region within the framework of the project “Legal Aid to the drug users of Lori, Shirak, Taush regions and the city of Yerevan.”

The goal was to meet with the lawyers of “Huysi Kamurj” NGO, with the public attorneys of Taush region, to get familiar with the conditions of the courts of common jurisdiction in Dilijan and Ijevan. The project which is implemented by HCA Vanadzor and the essence of the monitoring of the right to a fair trial to be conducted within the project were presented during the meetings. The monitoring will include the course of the pre-trial and trial of criminal cases brought against people charged with drug use or illegal drug distribution.

As a result of the visits to the courts of common jurisdiction in Dilijan and Ijevan it was found out that unlike the court in Dilijan, the court in Ijevan does not have a separate building and the work is organized in the Department of the Statistical Services.

The timeline of court hearings, the samples of applications and other relevant documents were posted in the corridor of the Dilijan court of common jurisdiction. The timeline of court hearings was posted in Ijevan court during our visit. A meeting was also held with the chairperson of the court of common jurisdiction in Ijevan who presented the current problems of the field.

As a result of the visit lawyers were selected from Dilijan and Ijevan representations of NGO “Huysi Kamurj” who are going to do trial monitoring in Taush region. HCA Vanadzor and the lawyers and public attorneys discussed their future cooperation.

The project “Legal Aid to the drug users of Lori, Shirak, Taush regions and the city of Yerevan” is funded by the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation-Armenia.