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On January 11, the RA NA Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs convened a sitting moderated by the Deputy Chair of the Committee Ani Samsonyan.

The Committee debated the draft law on Making Amendment and Addendum to the Law on Holidays and Memorial Days authored by the deputy of the RA NA My Step Faction Rustam Bakoyan.

According to the key rapporteur Rustam Bakoyan, the Republic of Armenia is a mono-ethnic country, where 11 national minorities live. According to the international experience, taking as a basis the UN Declaration in different states of the world, the National Minorities Day is officially affirmed. The draft law proposed to include the last Saturday of September in the list of the RA Holidays and Memorial Days, noting as the RA National Minorities Day. Rustam Bakoyan noted that the RA citizens once again would have an opportunity to draw their attention to the problems of the national minorities, the preservation, publicizing and spreading of their culture.

The co-rapporteur the Deputy Chair of the RA Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Ara Khzmalyan welcomed and highlighted the adoption of the draft law.

The RA Deputy Minister of Justice Kristinne Grigoryan presented for the Committee members’ debate the draft law on Ratifying the Optional Protocol on the Order of Presenting Messages of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The key rapporteur proposed the MPs to vote for the draft law, submitting in detail the provisions being regulated by the Protocol.

The draft laws were endorsed.

The Committee debated in the second reading the draft law on Making Addenda to the Law on the Rights of the Child.

The RA First Deputy of Health Anahit Avanesyan has presented, the adoption of the draft law is conditioned by the necessity of complying with the RA Constitution the law on the Rights of the Child and the law on Psychotic Aid.

The co-rapporteur the NA deputy Maria Karapetyan noted that during the period from the first to the second reading the draft law had undergone serious and multi-lateral debate. He emphasized the adoption of the draft law.

The revised draft law was endorsed by the Government.

According to the N 5 decision of 16 December 2019 of the RA NA Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs, after being completed the term of the activity of the created Working Group for the debate on the reform of the RA legislation aimed at the fight against the speech of hatred the results of the activity were reported at the regular or extraordinary sitting of the Committee. The Head of the Working Group, the NA deputy Sargis Khandanyan presented the report.

The questions addressed to Sargis Khandanyan related to the continuity of the Group works and the expecting legislative initiatives.