On July 22-23, 2014 “Civil Society Institute” NGO organized a two-day training course in Yerevan about the International Criminal Court (ICC). Representatives of Armenian NGOs and media, lawyers and young activists participated in the training.

The Communication Officer of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court Niall Matthews presented the role of the court, its development history, functions and jurisdiction.

The ICC was founded on the basis of the Rome Statute. This issue becomes very timely and actual in light of the ongoing discussions of the amendments to the Armenian Constitution. One of the suggested amendments is proposal of the ratification of the Rome Statute.

The first day of the training course was dedicated to the ICC, issues related to the ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute, regional and international organizations.

The second day of the course covered such issues as relations between the ICC and the international and regional civil society organizations, the principles of the media’s work with the ICC, etc.

International law expert Vladimir Vardanyan presented the situation with possibility of ratification of the ICC statute in Armenia, challenges faced and amendments proposed to the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia as well as current situation with criminalization on national level of crimes against humanity, war crimes and crime of genocide as criminalized in the Rome Statute.

The training course was organized with the financial support of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court in partnership with the Civil Society Institute.