On 12 December 2024, the President of the Constitutional Court, Arman Dilanyan participated in the first official session of the Council of Chairmen of the Supreme (Highest) Courts of the States Parties of the Commonwealth of Independent States, held in Yerevan and chaired by the President of the Court of Cassation, Lilit Tadevosyan.

Welcoming the session participants, the President of the RA Constitutional Court expressed his conviction that the sessions of the Council of Chairmen of the Supreme Courts of the CIS Member States are an excellent platform for developing dialogue between national courts, taking into account the historically established commonality of the member states’ legal cultures.

“Our main goal is to increase public trust and the efficiency of the judiciary. In this context, serious mutual understanding and consolidation of all social and political strata and groups is undoubtedly required to form a constitutional and legal culture that would gradually bring us closer to the ideal. However, the main burden falls on judges and courts in this case. This implies the continuous development of professional skills of judges and court staff, improving the quality of judicial acts, and enhancing the dialogue between national and international courts. In this regard, long-term and close cooperation between partner courts, international organizations, experts and scientists in this field is especially important.

It should be noted that, despite the skepticism of our colleagues from the executive branch and contradictory opinions in academic circles, today we increasingly talk about judicial diplomacy. Certainly, we approach this phenomenon very carefully and realize that it is the executive branch responsible for implementing foreign policy goals. At the same time, we believe that judicial diplomacy is an obvious reality today, and this cannot be ignored,” stated the President of the RA Constitutional Court.

Arman Dilanyan emphasized the importance of many platforms for bilateral and multilateral cooperation and dialogue between national and international courts, which create an opportunity not only to discuss the universal problems and challenges facing the courts but also to develop common and innovative solutions aimed at overcoming them, and wished fruitful deliberations to the participants of the first official session of the Council of Chairmen of the Supreme (Highest) Courts.

Note: The Council of Chairmen of the Supreme (Highest) Courts of the States Parties of the Commonwealth of Independent States was formed based on the Agreement “On the Formation of the Council of Chairmen of the Supreme (Highest) Courts of the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States”, signed on 15 October 2021 and entered into force on 26 November 2022.

The Council's member states are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. At the first organizational session of the Council, held on 20 February 2023, the Republic of Armenia assumed the chairmanship of the Council, and the President of the RA Court of Cassation, Lilit Tadevosyan was elected the Chairperson of the Council. On 12 December 2024, at the session held in Yerevan, the chairmanship of the Council was transferred to the Republic of Belarus.