On 22-24 January 2024, a high-level delegation from National Assembly of the RA headed by Mr Rustam Bakoyan, the Acting Chair of the Standing Committee on Human Rights and Public Affairs visited Strasbourg to discuss the possibilities of the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (Oviedo Convention) by Armenia.
The Oviedo Convention is an integral part of the substantial legal corpus developed by the Council of Europe for the protection of human rights, starting with the European Convention on human rights. Armenia has already made progress in protecting human rights in healthcare by aligning the national legislation with the European standards in this field. The ratification of the Oviedo Convention by Armenia would be an important political sign of the commitment of Armenia to ensure protection of human rights in the field of healthcare contributing thereby also to building trust within the general population. And the decision of the Parliament will be crucial in this process.
The delegation from the National Assembly included Mr Narek Zeynalyan, the Chair of the Standing Committee on Health, members of the Standing Committees on Health, Human Rights and Public Affairs, as well as European Integration.
The delegation met Mr Daniele Cangemi, Head of Human Rights, Justice and Legal-Cooperation standards setting activities Department, Ms Laurence Lwoff, Head of Human Rights and Biomedicine Division, Lord Keen, Chair of the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and Mr Simon Moutquin, Chair of the PACE Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development. The discussions took place around the possibilities of the ratification of the Oviedo Convention by Armenia and the benefits, as well as protection of rights Armenian population would enjoy as a result of the ratification of the Convention.
The visit and meetings were organized in the framework of the Council of Europe Cooperation Project on “Protection of Human Rights in Biomedicine II” implemented within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2023-2026.
