Freedom of Information Center of Armenia.

Taking into account the negative impact of the defamation court cases against the media, an Information Disputes Council was established in May 2011. The mandate of IDC is to protect freedom of speech, improve access to information, as well as to protect human dignity and the right of personal life by publishing expert opinions based on the Armenia’s Constitution, international legal acts and ethical norms, in cases when judicial disputes occur. The IDC has 5 founding members representing the spheres of human rights, mass media, law and journalistic ethics.

In order to promote an open and democratic society, it is important that the IDC starts reacting to court cases promptly and timely.

Project Objective

To strengthen the legal capacity of Information Disputes Council (IDC) by enhancing its efficiency in providing alternative resolution of media related disputes as an extra-judicial body

Project Outputs:

• Expert opinions are prepared by a legal expert on 30 court cases related to defamation and insult and presented to the attention of the IDC.
• Two workshops are organized for journalists and lawyers, including those representing clients in freedom of expression litigation, focusing on IDC’s decisions on relevant court cases, alternative ways for solving information disputes, experiences of international courts and finally, ethical behavior of journalists.

The Project is supported by the OSCE office in Yerevan. Project duration is 8 months (April - November 2012).