At its March 19-20 session, the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) decided to consider Armenia’s draft law on funding guarantees for the activities of the Human Rights Defender (ombudsman) of the country. This issue was discussed at the meeting of the Venice Commission, and the decision to follow up on this issue was announced by the commission, informed the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia.

The Armenian government recently approved and sent to the National Assembly a bill proposing an amendment to the Law on the Human Rights Defender, and which envisages the abolition of Part 5 of Article 8 of this law. According to this legislative requirement, the amount of allocation provided to Armenia’s ombudsman and his staff each year by the state budget may not be less than the amount provided by the state budget of the previous year.

According to the Human Rights Defender, however, the lifting of this norm will lead to the abolition of the institutional independence of the ombudsman’s institution in Armenia. Moreover, the proposed change carries a real risk that it would result in the deprivation of the Human Rights Defender of international "A" status. This, in turn, will automatically deprive the ombudsman, for example, of the opportunity to address at UN organizations, and to elect and to be elected to leading positions in international organizations.