MoU between AMCA and YSU

A memorandum of cooperation has been signed between the Faculty of Law of Yerevan State University and the Arbitration and Mediation Center of Armenia, with the aim of promoting and enhancing legal education and academic research in the field of alternative dispute resolution.

Harutyun Khachikyan, Dean of the Faculty of Law of Yerevan State University, emphasizing the importance of the memorandum, noted that the Faculty has regularly entered into cooperation agreements with various institutions, including public and civic bodies, thereby establishing effective partnership relations. “It is well known that there are numerous alternative methods of dispute resolution in the world, each at a different stage of development, and each having its impact on the fields of legal and academic activity. I am confident that this cooperation will contribute to enriching students’ knowledge in this area as well,” Harutyun Khachikyan noted. Under the provisions of the memorandum, students enrolled in the undergraduate and master’s degree programmes of the Faculty of Law of Yerevan State University will have the opportunity to undertake internships at the Arbitration and Mediation Center of Armenia.

Within the limits of its capacities, the Center will also support the Faculty’s teams participating in national and international moot court competitions organized in the field of alternative dispute resolution. In addition, pursuant to the memorandum, the Center will provide practical materials, documents, statistical data, and other necessary resources for academic research conducted at the Faculty.

Presenting the activities of the Center to the students, Tatevik Matinyan, Director of the Arbitration and Mediation Center of Armenia, emphasized that although the Center was established only a few months ago, it already plays an important role, especially for those who may in the future become arbitrators, mediators, or lawyers who direct their clients to alternative dispute resolution platforms. “Recently, we had an unprecedented case: for the first time in Armenia, co-mediation was successfully applied. A dispute that had been under court examination for nearly five years, between neighboring parties, was transferred to an out-of-court platform — the Arbitration and Mediation Center of Armenia. From the registration of the case with us to the receipt of the final decision, the process took only one week, while the mediation process itself lasted two and a half hours,” said Tatevik Matinyan, emphasizing that in all countries where arbitration and mediation are well developed, courts are significantly relieved of their caseload.

During the meeting, the students became closely acquainted with the institutions of arbitration and mediation, in particular the forms of alternative dispute resolution, current developments in the field, the Center’s activities, and the possible prospects for future cooperation. The meeting was held with the support of the YSU Alumni and Career Center.