A conference entitled "International humanitarian law: problems and perspectives of development," will kick off Nov 22 in Yerevan.

The two-day event, jointly organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in Armenia and the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University (RAU), will be held in Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University’s conference hall.

“During the five years of its existence, the Conference proved to be a sustainable forum enabling young researchers to discuss contemporary challenges of international humanitarian law (IHL), suggesting interesting solutions to very complex problems,” says Maria Teresa Dutli, ICRC Regional Legal Advisor, who chairs a section in this Conference.

"Initially addressed to researchers from former Soviet states, today the conference brings together participants from other countries as well. This tendency towards expansion indicates growing interest among young researchers towards topics related to international humanitarian law."

New methods of warfare from IHL perspective, cyber warfare and IHL, legality of non-lethal weapons, challenges of prohibition of conventional weapons and protection of cultural property will be on the agenda.

"The conference fosters discussion of humanitarian challenges posed by contemporary armed conflicts and the prevention of their dangerous consequences. It has become a traditional forum for young researchers from different countries to meet and analyze those problems,” head of the International and European Law Chair at the RAU, Arman Dilanyan said.

Participants come from Georgia, Belarus, Russia, Iran, Armenia, Moldova, Ukraine, Turkmenistan and Poland. Sessions will be chaired by Deputy Minister of Justice Aram Orbelyan, head of International Treaties Division at the Constitutional Court Vladimir Vardanyan, as well as Nicolas Koumjian, Senior Appeals Counsel at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Euhen Tsibulenko, IHL expert from the Tallinn School of Law and Sergey Sayapin, Legal Advisor from the ICRC Delegation in Tashkent.

The ICRC has been maintaining partnership relations with leading universities in Armenia since 2000 to promote respect for international humanitarian law and encourage its teaching and research among academic circles, ICRC press service reported.