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The necessity of making addenda and amendments to the RA law on Bases of Cultural Legislation is conditioned by the identification of the legislative field, which will promote the rise of efficiency of cultural policy being implemented by the state and the more effective management of the sphere. On September 9, at the NA sitting the Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Daniel Danielyan said, presenting the issue.

It is designed that by the adoption of the draft the legislative field of the culture sphere will be more regulated, the management of the sphere will facilitate and the financial, inventory and human resources management efficiency will rise.

The proposing amendments refer to the activity and functions of the Culture Development Fund, the specification of the ‘self-employed artist’ and ‘a person being engaged with cultural activity’ terms, the evaluation process of granting status ‘state’ to the cultural organizations, setting of nominal pensions in the sphere of culture in the context of boosting and development of the creative sphere by the state.

According to the draft, in the world and in Armenia, conditioned by the developments of recent years going on in the sphere of culture the definition of the term ‘self-employed/independent artists’ in the law is important, which is the term ‘self-employed artist’ accepted by the international organizations. Saying ‘self-employed artist,’ it is meant the person not joining any Creative Workers’ Union and rendering services by the civil-legal contract or doing works, as well as a person implementing entrepreneurship activity, who is registered in the tax field and independently realizes his/her created product.

The notion ‘person being engaged with cultural activity’ is also proposed to set, which means a physical person included in the staff list of a cultural non-commercial organization, who is engaged with creative activity.

It is also proposed to replace ‘state’ word by the word ‘national’ existing in some parts of Article 26 of the law.

Let us noted that it is proposed by the draft to give the name ‘state’ only to the organizations, which are of nationwide significance. At present, the differentiation of the organizations of nationwide significance by the use of word ‘national,’ meanwhile more expedient is considered that the word ‘state’ be applied towards the mentioned organizations, which will witness to the uniqueness, importance of those organizations, their special evaluation by the state.

The Deputy Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport Taguhi Ghazaryan presented the endorsement on the draft by the Committee.

On behalf of the NA opposition Armenia Faction the deputy Lilit Galstyan gave a speech. According to the deputy, there are certain uncertainties in the draft under debate, it is proposed to make amendments, which, according to the MP, are false and fictitious. Saying false and fictitious, the deputy meant the replacement of the word ‘national’ into the word ‘state’ in the law.

The MP proposed her colleagues to postpone the adoption of the draft and debate it with the beneficiary organizations, the self-employed persons, the organizations with the status ‘national’ and other beneficiaries of the cultural field.

The proposal was not accepted.