We are happy to announce the results of an open Call for Proposals for small grants scheme for CSOs in Armenia within scope of the EU funded “Justice Reform Monitoring in Armenia” (#JUREMONIA) project.
During the first stage were received 14 concept notes for this Call. The designated evaluation committee recommended that 7 applicants be invited to the second, full proposal stage. During the final selection, the selection committee recommended that the Law Development and Protection Foundation, Media Club Civil Society Development NGO, New Generation Humanitarian NGO and Protection of Rights Without Borders NGO may be awarded the project contract. All proposers have been informed about the evaluation results on their proposals for this Call.
Targeted reform areas and List of NGOs, as well as summery of selected proposals are as follows:
#Project title: Towards better criminal and administrative adjudication and enforcement
Lead applicant: Law Development and Protection Foundation
Co-applicant: CPI Human Rights Protection Armenian Centre
Reform area: Legal and judicial reforms
Duration: 12 months
The project is aimed at contribution to ensuring public monitoring of the Judicial and Legal Reforms. Monitoring, reporting, and advocacy activities are planned. Qualitative analysis/assessment of implemented and ongoing reforms in the selected three areas; application of alternative measures of restraint, administrative proceedings in courts, as well as enforcement of judicial acts will be conducted, loopholes in the legislation and problems in practice identified, and recommendations will be developed. The assessment activities will on one hand focus on assessment of the impact of already implemented reform (ex. adopted Criminal Procedure Code) and on the other hand will have meaningful contribution to the legislative amendments envisaged by the 2022-2026 Judicial and Legal Reforms Strategy. The project also provides a number of advocacy meetings to promote the developed recommendations.
#Project title: Monitoring the impacts of judicial and corruption reforms in the courts of Lori,
Tavush and Shirak regions
Lead applicant: “Media Club” Civil Society Development NGO
Reform areas: Legal and judicial reforms, Anti-corruption reforms
Duration: 12 months
The project seeks to monitor the courts in Lori, Tavush, and Shirak, focusing on citizens, judges, and lawyers involved in criminal cases. Its objective is to identify obstacles hindering legal, judicial, and anti-corruption reforms in the region. By understanding these challenges, the project aims to establish an independent judicial system that respects human rights and applies the law impartially. The project aims to raise awareness, promote transparency, and improve access to justice by monitoring the legal system. It plans to provide legal consultation to citizens and analyze the outcomes of legal and corruption reforms. The project will compile a comprehensive report, compare it with official reports, and encourage public scrutiny of the justice system. Additionally, the project will study long-pending criminal cases, investigate reasons for delays, and assess the impact of reforms on citizens and the judicial system. Independent lawyers will offer legal assistance to increase public confidence in the judiciary, and civil society organization representatives will serve as watchdogs during court sessions. The project activities include preparatory work, monitoring through questionnaires and consultations, investigating court delays, and facilitating legal assistance. Focus group discussions will be organized to analyse the monitoring results. The project aims to gradually increase public trust, improve access to justice, mitigate corruption risks, and ensure a transparent and accountable legal system. The project aims to build public trust, enhance access to justice, mitigate corruption risks, and establish a transparent legal system.
#Project title: The Right of Education of Prisoners of Armenia
Lead applicant: New Generation Humanitarian NGO
Co-applicant: Group of Public Monitors Implementing Supervision over the Criminal-Executive
Institutions and Bodies of the Ministry of Justice of Armenia (Prison Monitoring Group), Ministries of
Education, Science, Culture and Sports, of Justice and other stakeholder bodies but not as part of a
consortium.
Reform area: Prison and probation reforms
Duration: 12 months
The project aims to monitor the implementation of the right to education for individuals serving sentences in penitentiary institutions in Armenia, in accordance with the reform in the Law on Education. The beneficiaries of the project are 81 convicts from various penitentiary institutions who are participating in aesthetic education and educational programs provided by the ‘’Centre for the implementation of legal education and rehabilitation programs’’. The target groups involved in the project include the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Penitentiary Service, other government agencies, diplomatic missions, local and international organizations, as well as all prisoners and convicts. The project involves research and study of the implementation of the education reform, focusing on the public education program for convicts aged 19 and above. This research will be carried out in collaboration with local and international experts in education reforms, human rights, and rehabilitation of convicts and prisoners.
#Project title: Community service as an effective means for restorative justice
Lead applicant: Protection of Rights without Borders NGO
Project target sector: Prison and Probation reforms.
Reform area: Prison and probation reforms
Duration: 12 months
This project focuses on studying and evaluating the effectiveness of community service as a criminal sanction within the Probation Service in Armenia. The goal is to promote its use and enhance efficiency. The Armenian government has committed to implementing non-custodial punishments and measures of restraint, along with improving probation practices and protecting the rights of beneficiaries in line with international standards. However, the application and implementation of community service face challenges at both the legislative and practical levels. The range of available community service options is limited, supervision mechanisms are ineffective, and courts are reluctant to use community service as the primary punishment. To address these issues, this project aims to identify problems, analyze legislation, study international standards, collect statistical data, conduct interviews with stakeholders and visit organizations implementing community service. This project has the objective of identifying problems in the implementation of community service, including legal and practical issues, explore various types of community service and their potential for effective implementation, evaluate supervision methods and propose improvements, promote community service as an efficient method for restorative justice.