On April 29, the American University of Armenia's Master of Laws (LL.M.) program hosted a seminar entitled: "Territorial Integrity, Sovereignty, and Constitution: Armenia at the Point of No Return."
The seminar's speakers were: Arman Tatoyan, Doctor of Law Sciences and lecturer at the University; Siranush Sahakyan, head of the Human Rights and Social Justice program and Associate Professor; and Levon Gevorgyan, Doctor of Law Sciences and lecturer. Adelaida Baghdasaryan, head of the LL.M. program, opened the seminar by emphasizing the importance of the topic, especially in light of post-war developments. She also noted that the discussions would be exclusively academic, apolitical, and focused on the legal and factual analysis of the situation, applying national and international legal norms and principles.
One of the speakers, Siranush Sahakyan, spoke about the November 9 trilateral statement from the perspective of the RA Constitution, arguing that "its essence was broader than simply the cessation of hostilities." She emphasized that this document practically created legal consequences and, as such, could be viewed as an international treaty. However, the RA Constitution establishes a mandatory procedure for prior constitutional review and ratification by the National Assembly for such international treaties, which was not followed in the case of the November 9 document. "As such, the legal validity and legal grounds of this document are questionable," said Sahakyan.
Referring to the developments in Armenia's border communities after the 2020 Artsakh War, Arman Tatoyan described the current situation and the intrusions of the Azerbaijani armed forces into the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, particularly into the Syunik and Gegharkunik regions. He showed on a map the areas where Azerbaijani forces had intruded. Tatoyan also emphasized that the intrusion of Azerbaijani forces has created security and human rights issues that need to be raised in international platforms. Speaking about the Armenian villages in the immediate vicinity of which Azerbaijan has deployed its forces, Tatoyan referred to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, which characterizes the presence of Azerbaijani forces in those areas as a violation of the Armenian people's right to life.
Levon Gevorgyan addressed a series of statements made by RA officials regarding "Azerbaijan's territorial integrity" and "Soviet administrative borders." Discussing these issues in an international context, Gevorgyan spoke about the unfavorable consequences of these statements for Armenia.
At the end of the meeting, the seminar participants had the opportunity to ask questions to the speakers and engage in further discussions.