On 13 November 2018 the “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” NGO, together with 103 partner non-governmental organisations and foundations, sent a statement-standpoint to the SRC (State Revenue Committee) Chairman about the Drafts on Making Changes and Additions in the Law on Non-Governmental Organisations and the Law on Foundations Developed by the SRC in the scope of the “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” funded by the European Union. After that, on 23 November, the SRC initiated a meeting with non-governmental organisations to discuss the above-mentioned draft laws with representatives of non-governmental organisations.
During the meeting, Karen Zadoyan, the President of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association and the “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” Project Manager, suggested creating a CSO-SRC working group to discuss issues related to the transparency and accountability of NGOs and Foundations, as well as to find the legal solutions to a number of issues existing in the draft laws. It had a positive response and all agreed to do that.
On 14 February 2019, the above-mentioned working group was created by N 93-Ա order of the SRC Chairman and its composition was approved. Syuzanna Soghomonyan, a lawyer and the CSO-Government Dialogue Coordinator of the “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project, and lawyer-expert Artyom Mesropyan, as well as a representative from each of the four partner NGOs that had signed the statement-standpoint, were included in the working group. Representatives from other CSOs and relevant state agencies were also included in the group.
