The government approved the Istanbul convention, but with some reservations

At today’s session, the Armenian government approved the Council of Europe Convention on the Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence adopted in 2011 in Istanbul.

RA Minister of Justice Davit Harutyunyan noted that the Convention came into force in 2014 and all the countries have signed it besides the two members of the Council of Europe. “I do not want to talk about it in detail, because some time ago we were talking about the bill on the prevention of domestic violence and protection of victims. In principle, the basic provisions of this law are taken from this Convention”, – the Minister emphasized.

Davit Harutyunyan said that in connection with certain provisions of the Convention, Armenia offers reservations and a number of provisions will not be disseminated in Armenia. “This is due to the peculiarities of the legal system of our country”.

The objectives of the Convention are:

1. to protect women from all forms of violence and to prevent, combat and eliminate violence against women and domestic violence;
2. to promote the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and to promote real equality between women and men, including women’s liberalization;
3. to develop a comprehensive framework of legal norms, policy and measures to address the violence against women, protection of all victims and providing support;
4. to promote international co-operation with the purpose of putting end to violence against women and domestic violence;
5. to provide assistance and support to organizations and law enforcement agencies for effective co-operation in forming a common approach to eliminating violence against women and domestic violence.

Full text in Armenian