Study trip for young Armenian lawyers

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Published: July 17, 2026

When seven young lawyers from Yerevan spend one morning observing a trial in the courtroom of Düsseldorf Regional Court and one afternoon visiting a prison, a study visit quickly becomes more than just a glimpse into a foreign legal system: It becomes a direct comparison with regard to their own future as lawyers, working for the Crown Prosecution Service or as a judge.

From 6 to 10 July 2026, an IRZ study trip took young Armenian lawyers through North Rhine-Westphalia and Heidelberg. The group was not selected at random: the young lawyers had previously taken part in IRZ’s renowned Moot Court, which has been organised jointly with the Faculty of Law at Yerevan State University since 2016 – and were among its winners. The trip offered them the opportunity to get to know the German legal system not only in theory but also in practice on the ground.

Five days, one legal system

The study trip focused on how German institutions and authorities actually operate in day-to-day legal practice. To this end, the delegation visited the Higher Regional Court of Cologne, the Regional Courts of Cologne and Düsseldorf, the Ministry of Justice of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as the Cologne Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor’s Office. In Heidelberg, the programme included four stops: the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, the Faculty of Law at the University of Heidelberg, the Baden-Württemberg Probation and Court Assistance Service (Heidelberg branch) and the BIOS Academy for Victim Protection Treatment Initiatives (BIOS-BW) e.V., BIOS Victim Protection Heidelberg.

The discussions and lectures were deliberately not the only focus: the participants observed real court hearings and visited a prison – two insights that cannot be found in any textbook with such immediacy. The programme was supplemented by an overview of how probation services and victim protection operate: two areas that are often only touched upon in academic training but are central to the practice of criminal justice.

A group with many perspectives

The composition of the delegation reflected the breadth of Armenia’s next generation of legal professionals: a public prosecutor, two female lawyers, two lecturers from the Faculty of Law at Yerevan State University, and students from various universities across Armenia. The group was accompanied by Prof. Dr Anna R. Margaryan, Chair of Criminal Law at the Faculty of Law of Yerevan State University – a sign of the close and long-standing ties between the trip and the partner university.

This diversity of experience levels – ranging from students to practising lawyers – led to a lively exchange: those who have already appeared in court ask different questions from those who are still familiar with procedural law only from their seminars. It was precisely this juxtaposition of different perspectives that made the professional dialogue with the German counterparts particularly fruitful.

Part of a wider partnership

The study trip does not stand alone, but forms part of IRZ’s long-standing cooperation with the Armenian legal education and training sector. It was organised in cooperation with the Faculty of Law at Yerevan State University – the very same partner institution with which IRZ has also been organising the Moot Court since 2016, from which the participants emerged.

At the end of the week, the overall assessment was thoroughly positive: the participants showed great commitment, asked insightful questions and expressed their high level of satisfaction with how the programme was run. For IRZ, this serves both as confirmation and as an incentive to continue its exchange with Armenia’s next generation of legal professionals.