Eröffnung der Veranstaltung Prävention häuslicher Gewalt und Schutz von Frauen und Kindern“, Links: Anahit Manasyan, Menschenrechtsverteidigerin der Republik Armenien; rechts von ihr: Nelly Tumasyan, Vertreterin der IRZ in Armenien Armenia
Our event, ‘Prevention of Domestic Violence and Protection of Women and Children’, held on 15–16 July 2026 in Yerevan, was part of a series of advisory and training initiatives designed to support the Office of the Human Rights Defender. The aim was to strengthen professional expertise in dealing with domestic violence and to convey current international standards on the topics of prevention, victim protection and the legal framework.
The interdisciplinary group of participants – comprising staff from the Office of the Human Rights Defender, representatives of state authorities from Yerevan and the regions, primary care professionals, police officers, local authorities, non-governmental organisations, parents’ associations and ministries – provided an excellent basis for cross-sectoral professional exchange and sustainable networking.
Following the opening address by Anahit Manasyan, Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, the first day of the event focused in particular on societal stereotypes regarding women’s and children’s rights, the definition and dynamics of domestic violence, and prevention strategies. Expert presentations by lawyer Wiebke Wildvang and Anne Thiemann, a qualified social pedagogue and education officer, were complemented by interactive discussion sessions in which participants were able to share experiences from their professional practice.
The second day of the event was devoted to practical training on mechanisms for preventing domestic violence, as well as on supporting and protecting those affected. Key topics included the early detection of violence, options for action available to professionals in the healthcare sector, the police and local authorities, inter-agency cooperation, work with perpetrators, and compensation mechanisms. Using case studies, specific intervention options were discussed and solutions developed jointly.
The intensive exchange between the experts and the participants highlighted the great need for practical training programmes and the importance of close inter-institutional cooperation in the fight against domestic violence. The IRZ will therefore continue to dedicate itself to this important issue.
The participants of the study trip. Second row, second from the left: Susanne Wernerus, Vice-President of the Higher Regional Court of Cologne; second row, third from the right: Prof. Dr Anna R. Margaryan, Faculty of Law, Yerevan State University; Copyright Photo: OLG Cologne Armenia
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.
Participants at the workshop on ‘Property offences’ Armenia
For the Republic of Armenia, reforming its criminal law is one of the key priorities on the path towards a modern justice system. Against this backdrop, we organised a high-level expert event on property offences at the Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office. Our focus was on the current challenges in the field of virtual property offences: a subject area which, as is well known, is becoming increasingly important due to advancing digitalisation.
Not least thanks to the illustrative case studies presented by Senior Public Prosecutor Dr Nino Goldbeck (Bamberg Public Prosecutor’s Office and Bavarian Cybercrime Centre) and Public Prosecutor Carlo Schmidt (Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor’s Office and North Rhine-Westphalia Central Office for the Prosecution of Terrorism ‘ZenTer NRW’), there were intensive discussions on how to tackle virtual property offences. At the same time, consideration was given to what measures and strategies could be adopted to mitigate the impact on victims – an aspect that is often neglected.
