On September 23, Eurasia International University hosted the high-profile event titled “Access to Justice: Implementing Innovations in Teaching and Research”. The event served as a dissemination activity of the MAJust project aiming to develop an interdisciplinary Master’s Program and Certificate Modules in Access to Justice.
It also provided an opportunity to introduce the JUST FAIR fellowship program – a new initiative providing support to students and young scholars conducting their research on topical issues of access to justice.
Both projects are implemented in the framework of the EU-funded JUREMONIA project that aims to strengthen the capacity of civil society to monitor justice reforms in Armenia.
In his welcome speech, Prof. Dr. Suren Ohanyan emphasized that EIU prioritizes integration of Sustainable Development Goals in teaching and research, paying specific attention to Justice, Peace and Strong Institutions promoted by MAJust and JUST FAIR initiatives. He further stressed that both projects contribute to the strategic objective of EIU to build meaningful dialogues between academia and governmental and civil society actors.
Mr. Frank Hess, Head of Cooperation section at the EU Delegation to Armenia, underlined the importance of Justice Sector Reforms for the proper implementation of the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement. He stressed the EU’s long-standing commitment to support Armenia’s justice sector reforms as a core prerequisite for democratic consolidation, rule of law, and citizens’ trust in institutions. Welcoming the JUREMONIA’s and EIU’s initiatives, Mr. Hess highlighted the creation of a trialogue among academia, civil society, and policymakers as a promising model for evidence-based policymaking.
The representatives of the JUREMONIA consortium, Dr. Malini Laxminarayan (the Netherlands Helsinki Committee) and Ms. Gayane Hovhakimyan (Social Justice NGO) welcomed the contribution of MAJust and JUST FAIR to the implementation of the JUREMONIA project.
Ambassador Ioseb Nanobashvili, the regional Director of European Public Law Organization for the South Caucasus, officially congratulated EIU as the first educational institution in Armenia that became a Member of EPLO and its Board of Directors. He emphasized that the newly designed Program fully aligns with the EPLO’s objectives to promote the Rule of Law, Justice, and Good Governance and offered methodological and expert support for its implementation.
Dr. Anna Khvorostiankina, academic coordinator of the MAJust and JUST FAIR projects, presented the results of implementation of both initiatives and outlined the future plans related to teaching, research, outreach and internationalization in the field of access to justice.
The event culminated in a roundtable discussion on the role of academia in addressing the ongoing challenges of access to justice. Ms. Lousineh Hakobyan, the President of the Europe in Law Association and Co-Chair of the EU-Armenia Civil Society Platform, underlined the importance of the academia-practice synergy. Dr. Anna Hovanissyan addressed the importance of linking law and sciences (in particular, Genetics) for ensuring better access to justice and adherence to the fair trial standards. The representatives of the University of Milan and Roma Tre University addressed the topical issues within the scope of their research projects, underlying the issues of electoral justice, access to justice in environmental and climate matters, and the role of legal clinics in providing support to vulnerable social groups. Ms. Meline Avagyan, representative of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, welcomed both projects and introduced relevant initiatives implemented by RWI.
Dr. Ruben Markosyan, MAJust and JUST FAIR project institutional coordinator, EIU Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, highlighted the importance of student-centered approach in education and the flexibility of educational paths. Both approaches are embodied in the interdisciplinary, modular-based Access to Justice Program and Certificate courses, which potentially will be offered as micro-credentials enabled by the newly adopted Law on Higher Education. Other guests and EIU lecturers contributed to the roundtable discussion with valuable comments and remarks.
Juremonia project started in February, 2022. It was funded by the EU and implemented by the consortium of the Netherlands Helsinki Committee, the Penal Reform International, the Social Justice NGO and the Civil Society Institute NGO.
