On June 25 at the American University Armenia a discussion of the draft RA law "On Mass Communication" was held. In the meeting, organized by the law departments of the AUA and the Yerevan State University, the representatives of the RA Justice Ministry, international organizations and local NGOs, students of political science and law departments of the AUA took part. Presentations on the subject matter of the meeting were made by the author of the draft, the Deputy Justice Minister Ashot Abovian, and the head of the legal service of Internews Armenia David Sandukhchian.
As it has been reported, the draft law "On Mass Communication", despite the protests of the journalistic community, was introduced to the consideration of the parliament in late March, 2003, however was not voted due to lack of quorum. The objections of the media and professional organizations, particularly YPC, were pre-conditioned by the fact that during the tension of the pre-election situation and as a number of provisions of the draft did not meet the common international standards, its adoption should be delegated to the new parliament (see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, March 22 – April 4, 2003).
