OSCE, Council of Europe welcome agreement to change recently amended assembly law

WARSAW/STRASBOURG, 21 April 2008 - The OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and Council of Europe's Venice Commission today welcomed the agreement reached with leading Armenian state representatives to make changes to the recently amended assembly law.

"We see this agreement as another step in the long-standing cooperation between the Armenian authorities, the ODIHR and the Venice Commission on the legislative regulation of public assemblies", said Ambassador Christian Strohal, ODIHR Director.

"The Venice Commission and the ODIHR look forward to receiving the drafts of the new amendments and stand ready to review them in light of relevant international standards", said Gianni Buquicchio, General Secretary of the Venice Commission.

In a legal opinion published on 28 March, the ODIHR and the Venice Commission raised serious concerns about the amendments to the Law on Conducting Meetings, Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations which was passed shortly after the violent events of 1-2 March.

During a visit to Yerevan on 15-16 April, a delegation from the ODIHR and the Venice Commission delegation met with Tigran Torosyan, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Gevorg Danielyan, Minister of Justice, and presidential adviser Gevorg Mheryan.

It was agreed to repeal or change the amendments introduced to tighten provisions for peaceful assemblies, in particular with regard to spontaneous gatherings. These changes would bring the law closer to its original content, which had been assessed positively by the ODIHR and the Venice Commission.

Based on the agreement reached, new amendments will be drafted and submitted to ODIHR and the Venice Commission for another review. The ODIHR and Venice Commission experts suggested that sufficient time be allowed for public discussion of the amendments.