Expert workshop on alternative service organized in Armenia

YEREVAN, 30 October 2003 - A draft law on alternative service was discussed during a workshop in Armenia's National Assembly on 28 and 29 October. The event was co-organized by the National Assembly, the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Council of Europe.

The main goal of the workshop was to discuss and amend the current draft law, which was prepared by a number of Armenian parliamentarians. This draft passed its first reading on 8 October 2003. At the workshop, a CoE expert presented relevant international and European standards regarding alternative service. Representatives from the OSCE Office, the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection and the Alternative Service Administration of Moldova commented on the provisions of the current draft law.

At the end of the event, the participants agreed that a useful discussion had developed on the changes that needed to be made before the second reading of the draft, which is scheduled to take place by the end of the year.

One of the authors of the draft law, Vice-Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Vahan Hovhannisyan, agreed to change the draft before the second reading, taking into account the points raised by the OSCE Office and the CoE. These changes concern in particular the scope of the definition of applicants to alternative service, nature and length of the service, the selection mechanism, appeal procedures, professional discrimination towards alternative servants and different stages when individuals can apply to perform alternative service.

Other participants included members of Parliament, representatives of governmental institutions and civil society as well as international organizations.

When Armenia became a full member of the Council of Europe (CoE) in 2001, the adoption of a law on alternative service was one of the commitments to be fulfilled within three years (by January 2004).