Between 24 and 28 November, the Trust’s Director, Jim Fitzgerald and our Chair, former Chief Executive of the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland, Professor Evelyn Collins CBE, visited to Armenia to engage with stakeholders involved in the process to enact the draft Law on Ensuring Equality. The experts were invited to Yerevan by the Non-Discrimination and Equality Coalition, a grouping of civil society organisations which has been advocating for the adoption of comprehensive equality law for more than a decade, and its partner the Democracy Development Foundation.

The Equal Rights Trust has been working in partnership with the Coalition since 2017, supporting its work to advocate for the adoption of a comprehensive equality law. In March 2018, the Trust responded to the previous government’s consultation on a draft of the Law on Ensuring Equality, providing a comprehensive analysis and assessment against international standards. This analysis highlighted some serious problems with the draft Law, which would limit the scope of protection or compromise its effectiveness. In August 2019, following the publication of a new draft Law, the Trust wrote the then-Minister of Justice welcoming some improvements, but noting that a number of important issues remained to be addressed.

Following, the dual shocks of the coronavirus pandemic and conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, in 2023 the process recommenced. In December, the government included the adoption of a “Law on Equal rights (…) in the period of 2024-2025” as one of its three Human Rights 75 pledges at the UN. Similar commitments were made in the state’s National Human Rights Protection Strategy and through its Human Rights Dialogue with the European Union. A new draft of the Law was published for consultation in mid-2024. The Trust’s analysis of this draft confirmed that while many serious issues with previous drafts had been addressed, further amendments were required.

During their visit, the Trust met with the Deputy Minister of Justice – the ministry which developed the draft Law;, two Committees of the National Assembly which will be responsible for scrutinising the Law before adoption – the Standing Committee on Human Rights and the Standing Committee on European Integration; and the Human Rights Defender – the institution set be charged with the equality body mandate under the new Law. They also met with the Non-Discrimination and Equality Coalition and with a range of international stakeholders.

The experts called on those involved in the legislative process to make a small number of essential changes to Law to ensure that it provides comprehensive and effective protection, and to align it with international standards set out in the UN Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation and European standards, including the new European Directives on Standards for Equality Bodies. In particular, the Trust called for the draft Law to be amended to address:

• The omission of health status, gender expression, gender identity, sex characteristics and sexual orientation, from the list of explicitly listed grounds;
• The lack of provision for standing for interested third parties in discrimination claims;
• The lack of clear, simple and accessible procedure allowing victims to bring claims of discrimination;
• The lack of provision for compensation for both material and non-material damages;
• The absence of a requirement for sanctions to be effective, proportionate and dissuasive;
• The limited powers granted to the Office of the Human Rights Defender to discharge its mandate as the designated equality body;
• The absence of a clear guarantee that the Human Rights Defender will be provided with the human, technical and financial resources required to exercise the equality mandate effectively

The Trust’s experts welcomed the commitment of both the government and legislators to enact comprehensive equality law. The mission is envisaged as the first of three by the expert team, with the support of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Rule of Law Expertise programme. The Trust stands ready to provide further assistance to those involved, in order to ensure that the final draft meets its stated ambition of eliminating discrimination and advancing equality for all.