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Mr Ghulyan highlighted the numerous meetings of the deputies of the parliaments in the previous two years, which reliably provided the full cooperation between the two parliaments.

“Only in April-July 2016 almost all deputies of the Armenian Parliament visited Artsakh and without exception, all parliamentary factions very often taking with them our colleagues of the foreign parliaments,” the Head of the Artsakh Parliament.

He underlined the efficiency joint sittings and thematic debates of the Standing Committees: during that period the format of the issues is outlined which is included in the agenda of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation.

The AR NA President has noted that they assess the efforts of the RA National Assembly deputies for decently presenting the positions of the Armenian sides in the international parliamentary structures and facing the initiatives with distorting the essence of the problem and biased formulations by the Azerbaijani authorities.

“I am sure that today’s joint debates will prompt us in what direction we should activate the opportunities of the parliamentary diplomacy for changing them into mechanisms consonant with more effective requirements,” Ashot Ghulyan underlined.

Touching upon the theme relating to the commonalities and peculiarities of the post-constitutional processes in Armenia and in Artsakh, Mr Ghulyan has expressed conviction that there is no need for joint debates and counseling in this sphere.

“I would like to express my satisfaction with our joint work of the previous years with the following formulation: the cooperation with the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia is the most established, effective and demanded one for the National Assembly of Artsakh Republic. This platform does not only give an opportunity in terms of the exchange of legislative experience, but it is a peculiar pipe for us as for establishing ties with the parliamentarians of different countries, and as for voicing out loud about the position of Artsakh from the international parliamentary tribunes,” the Head of Artsakh Parliament said.

Summing up his speech, Ashot Ghulyan thanked the President of the RA National Assembly Ara Babloyan, his colleagues of the Armenian Parliament for the warm reception, readiness of preserving and developing in any way the created traditions and wished the participants effective work.

Afterwards the parliamentarians turned into agenda items.

Within the framework of the theme The Post-Constitutional Processes in Armenia and Artsakh: Commonalities and Peculiarities the Chairman of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs and Protection of Human Rights Hrayr Tovmasyan, underlining with satisfaction the fact that both Armenia and Artsakh had successfully overcome the first wave of the post-constitutional amendments: in the RA two important laws (the Electoral Code and the law RA NA Rules of Procedure) and in Artsakh (the relevant amendments to the law NA Rules of Procedure) were passed, by which the order of the elections of the President of the republic and the amendments following it. Mr Tovmasyan has underlined that two Constitutions essentially differ especially in terms of the government form, but they are identical in the human basic rights and freedoms and guarantees, they are universal from the viewpoint of being led by the same philosophy in having effective system of government and state. The peculiarities of the two states are taken into consideration: the two states have not gone through imitating each other and mechanically reproducing the legislation.

Speaking about the commonalities the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the RA Parliament has noted that in Armenia and in Artsakh there is one important commonality: deprivation from the system of the double framed executive power.

In Hrayr Tovmasyan's word, in terms of post-electoral processes, stability and predictability of the system the RA new Constitution has already given its positive result. It has been noted that the adoption of the two important laws is expected: the Judicial Code and the law on Constitutional Court. The next most important amendment is considered to be the legal regulations concerning the structure of the government and the order of the activity.

Mr Tovmasyan emphasized the compliance of the legislation with the Constitution and the full fulfillment of the provisions of the Mother Law.

The AR NA Chairman of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Hovik Jivanyan, presenting the constitutional developments and reforms in Artsakh, has noted that the April war followed the constitutional reforms in Artsakh which has left a trace on the process.It has been noted that the presidential model of the state government was presented to the referendum. In Mr Jivanyan’s word, the new Constitution of Artsakh Republic essentially differs from the previous one, as well as from the RA Constitutions.

Hovik Jivanyan presented the provisions and the peculiarities of the AR new Constitution. The deputy informed that by the adoption of the new Constitution a need emerged for a legislative wide-scale work to be done: works were done aimed at building capacities of the National Assembly conditioned by that circumstance. The Committee Chairman highlighted the cooperation in the Inter-Committee format between the parliaments of Armenia and Artsakh, the activation of mutual ties and the effective use of new opportunities of cooperation.

The questions addressed to the key speakers related to the process of complying the legislation with the new Constitution, the steps taken to the provision of the public awareness on the constitutional reforms, the formation of the local authorities, particularly the impact of the enlargement process on the borderline communities.

The RA NA Vice President Eduard Sharmazanov delivered a speech, positively assessing the cooperation of the RA and the AR parliaments. He has noted that the parliamentarians of Armenia always raise the fair demand of Artsakh people on international different platforms.

The RA NA Vice President highlighted the steps being taken in expanding the framework of the Friendship Group with Artsakh Parliament and increasing the number of the deputies visiting Artsakh.

Eduard Sharmazanov has opined that the problem of Artsakh has no relation with the problems of Catalonia, Crimea, Ossetia and Abkhazia: it is totally another problem. “We should be able to tell our European colleagues on all platforms that the Artsakh republic has been separated from the Soviet Union with the same legislative norms, as any entity of the Soviet Union,” he said and added that the independence of Artsakh is not legal, thus the independence of the former USSR republics, now Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia being EU members are not legal.

It has been noted that the Artsakh Republic is considered one of the oases of the regional democracy.

“If in Azerbaijan they go to family totalitarianism, then in Artsakh they go to democracy. We should give impetus to our international colleagues,” the RA NA Vice President underlined.

He has expressed conviction that the foreign colleagues, who visiting Artsakh, has returned admired understanding that there are 150.000 freedom fighters in Artsakh, and the fight of Artsakh is not against Azerbaijan, but for freedom and independence.

Ending his speech Mr Sharmazanov has underlined that in the issue of Artsakh in the RA Parliament the party affiliation is not prior - everybody has the same position in this issue.

Summing up the work of the first part of the sitting, the RA NA President Ara Babloyan underlined that the Constitutional reforms had been made for the quality of the government and the improvement of the democratic level. In the RA NA President’s speech, in Armenia and in Artsakh the best way had been chosen in terms of security, as well as providing the citizens’ welfare.

The Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Ashotyan delivered a speech on The Debates on the Theme of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh Conflict on the International Platforms: Old Stereotypes and New Tendencies.

“The Artsakh problem is one of the RA foreign policy prior directions. On all platforms the legislative and executive authorities with joint efforts work in order to get decent answers in the frameworks of the international community, and corresponding favourable political environment is created for the settlement of the problem,” the Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Ashotyan underlined.

Armen Ashotyan considered the most important precondition regularly voicing of the Artsakh problem in order to keep the issue in the new political situations and world developments.

“Artsakh problem, being specific, nevertheless, by the Western political classifications is considered to be in one of the problems of the common group of the international non-solved conflicts in general. In the post-Soviet territories the emerged conflicts have their origin, the reasons, the legal regimes of the settlement, the phases of the development and today’s international standards. Therefore, being classified in the sub-group of those non-solved conflicts we get additional challenges which are important in order to differentiate the Artsakh conflict from other problems in the frameworks of the international community. One of the important directions of the Armenian political thought and diplomatic efforts is ensuring the Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ regular activities,” Armen Ashotyan noted.

The work of the 12^th sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and the National Assembly of Artsakh Republic was over with this.

Mr Ghulyan highlighted the numerous meetings of the deputies of the parliaments in the previous two years, which reliably provided the full cooperation between the two parliaments.

“Only in April-July 2016 almost all deputies of the Armenian Parliament visited Artsakh and without exception, all parliamentary factions very often taking with them our colleagues of the foreign parliaments,” the Head of the Artsakh Parliament.

He underlined the efficiency joint sittings and thematic debates of the Standing Committees: during that period the format of the issues is outlined which is included in the agenda of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation.

The AR NA President has noted that they assess the efforts of the RA National Assembly deputies for decently presenting the positions of the Armenian sides in the international parliamentary structures and facing the initiatives with distorting the essence of the problem and biased formulations by the Azerbaijani authorities.

“I am sure that today’s joint debates will prompt us in what direction we should activate the opportunities of the parliamentary diplomacy for changing them into mechanisms consonant with more effective requirements,” Ashot Ghulyan underlined.

Touching upon the theme relating to the commonalities and peculiarities of the post-constitutional processes in Armenia and in Artsakh, Mr Ghulyan has expressed conviction that there is no need for joint debates and counseling in this sphere.

“I would like to express my satisfaction with our joint work of the previous years with the following formulation: the cooperation with the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia is the most established, effective and demanded one for the National Assembly of Artsakh Republic. This platform does not only give an opportunity in terms of the exchange of legislative experience, but it is a peculiar pipe for us as for establishing ties with the parliamentarians of different countries, and as for voicing out loud about the position of Artsakh from the international parliamentary tribunes,” the Head of Artsakh Parliament said.

Summing up his speech, Ashot Ghulyan thanked the President of the RA National Assembly Ara Babloyan, his colleagues of the Armenian Parliament for the warm reception, readiness of preserving and developing in any way the created traditions and wished the participants effective work.

Afterwards the parliamentarians turned into agenda items.

Within the framework of the theme The Post-Constitutional Processes in Armenia and Artsakh: Commonalities and Peculiarities the Chairman of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs and Protection of Human Rights Hrayr Tovmasyan, underlining with satisfaction the fact that both Armenia and Artsakh had successfully overcome the first wave of the post-constitutional amendments: in the RA two important laws (the Electoral Code and the law RA NA Rules of Procedure) and in Artsakh (the relevant amendments to the law NA Rules of Procedure) were passed, by which the order of the elections of the President of the republic and the amendments following it. Mr Tovmasyan has underlined that two Constitutions essentially differ especially in terms of the government form, but they are identical in the human basic rights and freedoms and guarantees, they are universal from the viewpoint of being led by the same philosophy in having effective system of government and state. The peculiarities of the two states are taken into consideration: the two states have not gone through imitating each other and mechanically reproducing the legislation.

Speaking about the commonalities the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the RA Parliament has noted that in Armenia and in Artsakh there is one important commonality: deprivation from the system of the double framed executive power.

In Hrayr Tovmasyan's word, in terms of post-electoral processes, stability and predictability of the system the RA new Constitution has already given its positive result. It has been noted that the adoption of the two important laws is expected: the Judicial Code and the law on Constitutional Court. The next most important amendment is considered to be the legal regulations concerning the structure of the government and the order of the activity.

Mr Tovmasyan emphasized the compliance of the legislation with the Constitution and the full fulfillment of the provisions of the Mother Law.

The AR NA Chairman of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Hovik Jivanyan, presenting the constitutional developments and reforms in Artsakh, has noted that the April war followed the constitutional reforms in Artsakh which has left a trace on the process.It has been noted that the presidential model of the state government was presented to the referendum. In Mr Jivanyan’s word, the new Constitution of Artsakh Republic essentially differs from the previous one, as well as from the RA Constitutions.

Hovik Jivanyan presented the provisions and the peculiarities of the AR new Constitution. The deputy informed that by the adoption of the new Constitution a need emerged for a legislative wide-scale work to be done: works were done aimed at building capacities of the National Assembly conditioned by that circumstance. The Committee Chairman highlighted the cooperation in the Inter-Committee format between the parliaments of Armenia and Artsakh, the activation of mutual ties and the effective use of new opportunities of cooperation.

The questions addressed to the key speakers related to the process of complying the legislation with the new Constitution, the steps taken to the provision of the public awareness on the constitutional reforms, the formation of the local authorities, particularly the impact of the enlargement process on the borderline communities.

The RA NA Vice President Eduard Sharmazanov delivered a speech, positively assessing the cooperation of the RA and the AR parliaments. He has noted that the parliamentarians of Armenia always raise the fair demand of Artsakh people on international different platforms.

The RA NA Vice President highlighted the steps being taken in expanding the framework of the Friendship Group with Artsakh Parliament and increasing the number of the deputies visiting Artsakh.

Eduard Sharmazanov has opined that the problem of Artsakh has no relation with the problems of Catalonia, Crimea, Ossetia and Abkhazia: it is totally another problem. “We should be able to tell our European colleagues on all platforms that the Artsakh republic has been separated from the Soviet Union with the same legislative norms, as any entity of the Soviet Union,” he said and added that the independence of Artsakh is not legal, thus the independence of the former USSR republics, now Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia being EU members are not legal.

It has been noted that the Artsakh Republic is considered one of the oases of the regional democracy.

“If in Azerbaijan they go to family totalitarianism, then in Artsakh they go to democracy. We should give impetus to our international colleagues,” the RA NA Vice President underlined.

He has expressed conviction that the foreign colleagues, who visiting Artsakh, has returned admired understanding that there are 150.000 freedom fighters in Artsakh, and the fight of Artsakh is not against Azerbaijan, but for freedom and independence.

Ending his speech Mr Sharmazanov has underlined that in the issue of Artsakh in the RA Parliament the party affiliation is not prior - everybody has the same position in this issue.

Summing up the work of the first part of the sitting, the RA NA President Ara Babloyan underlined that the Constitutional reforms had been made for the quality of the government and the improvement of the democratic level. In the RA NA President’s speech, in Armenia and in Artsakh the best way had been chosen in terms of security, as well as providing the citizens’ welfare.

The Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Ashotyan delivered a speech on The Debates on the Theme of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh Conflict on the International Platforms: Old Stereotypes and New Tendencies.

“The Artsakh problem is one of the RA foreign policy prior directions. On all platforms the legislative and executive authorities with joint efforts work in order to get decent answers in the frameworks of the international community, and corresponding favourable political environment is created for the settlement of the problem,” the Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Ashotyan underlined.

Armen Ashotyan considered the most important precondition regularly voicing of the Artsakh problem in order to keep the issue in the new political situations and world developments.

“Artsakh problem, being specific, nevertheless, by the Western political classifications is considered to be in one of the problems of the common group of the international non-solved conflicts in general. In the post-Soviet territories the emerged conflicts have their origin, the reasons, the legal regimes of the settlement, the phases of the development and today’s international standards. Therefore, being classified in the sub-group of those non-solved conflicts we get additional challenges which are important in order to differentiate the Artsakh conflict from other problems in the frameworks of the international community. One of the important directions of the Armenian political thought and diplomatic efforts is ensuring the Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ regular activities,” Armen Ashotyan noted.

The work of the 12^th sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and the National Assembly of Artsakh Republic was over with this.

Mr Ghulyan highlighted the numerous meetings of the deputies of the parliaments in the previous two years, which reliably provided the full cooperation between the two parliaments.

“Only in April-July 2016 almost all deputies of the Armenian Parliament visited Artsakh and without exception, all parliamentary factions very often taking with them our colleagues of the foreign parliaments,” the Head of the Artsakh Parliament.

He underlined the efficiency joint sittings and thematic debates of the Standing Committees: during that period the format of the issues is outlined which is included in the agenda of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation.

The AR NA President has noted that they assess the efforts of the RA National Assembly deputies for decently presenting the positions of the Armenian sides in the international parliamentary structures and facing the initiatives with distorting the essence of the problem and biased formulations by the Azerbaijani authorities.

“I am sure that today’s joint debates will prompt us in what direction we should activate the opportunities of the parliamentary diplomacy for changing them into mechanisms consonant with more effective requirements,” Ashot Ghulyan underlined.

Touching upon the theme relating to the commonalities and peculiarities of the post-constitutional processes in Armenia and in Artsakh, Mr Ghulyan has expressed conviction that there is no need for joint debates and counseling in this sphere.

“I would like to express my satisfaction with our joint work of the previous years with the following formulation: the cooperation with the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia is the most established, effective and demanded one for the National Assembly of Artsakh Republic. This platform does not only give an opportunity in terms of the exchange of legislative experience, but it is a peculiar pipe for us as for establishing ties with the parliamentarians of different countries, and as for voicing out loud about the position of Artsakh from the international parliamentary tribunes,” the Head of Artsakh Parliament said.

Summing up his speech, Ashot Ghulyan thanked the President of the RA National Assembly Ara Babloyan, his colleagues of the Armenian Parliament for the warm reception, readiness of preserving and developing in any way the created traditions and wished the participants effective work.

Afterwards the parliamentarians turned into agenda items.

Within the framework of the theme The Post-Constitutional Processes in Armenia and Artsakh: Commonalities and Peculiarities the Chairman of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs and Protection of Human Rights Hrayr Tovmasyan, underlining with satisfaction the fact that both Armenia and Artsakh had successfully overcome the first wave of the post-constitutional amendments: in the RA two important laws (the Electoral Code and the law RA NA Rules of Procedure) and in Artsakh (the relevant amendments to the law NA Rules of Procedure) were passed, by which the order of the elections of the President of the republic and the amendments following it. Mr Tovmasyan has underlined that two Constitutions essentially differ especially in terms of the government form, but they are identical in the human basic rights and freedoms and guarantees, they are universal from the viewpoint of being led by the same philosophy in having effective system of government and state. The peculiarities of the two states are taken into consideration: the two states have not gone through imitating each other and mechanically reproducing the legislation.

Speaking about the commonalities the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the RA Parliament has noted that in Armenia and in Artsakh there is one important commonality: deprivation from the system of the double framed executive power.

In Hrayr Tovmasyan's word, in terms of post-electoral processes, stability and predictability of the system the RA new Constitution has already given its positive result. It has been noted that the adoption of the two important laws is expected: the Judicial Code and the law on Constitutional Court. The next most important amendment is considered to be the legal regulations concerning the structure of the government and the order of the activity.

Mr Tovmasyan emphasized the compliance of the legislation with the Constitution and the full fulfillment of the provisions of the Mother Law.

The AR NA Chairman of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Hovik Jivanyan, presenting the constitutional developments and reforms in Artsakh, has noted that the April war followed the constitutional reforms in Artsakh which has left a trace on the process.It has been noted that the presidential model of the state government was presented to the referendum. In Mr Jivanyan’s word, the new Constitution of Artsakh Republic essentially differs from the previous one, as well as from the RA Constitutions.

Hovik Jivanyan presented the provisions and the peculiarities of the AR new Constitution. The deputy informed that by the adoption of the new Constitution a need emerged for a legislative wide-scale work to be done: works were done aimed at building capacities of the National Assembly conditioned by that circumstance. The Committee Chairman highlighted the cooperation in the Inter-Committee format between the parliaments of Armenia and Artsakh, the activation of mutual ties and the effective use of new opportunities of cooperation.

The questions addressed to the key speakers related to the process of complying the legislation with the new Constitution, the steps taken to the provision of the public awareness on the constitutional reforms, the formation of the local authorities, particularly the impact of the enlargement process on the borderline communities.

The RA NA Vice President Eduard Sharmazanov delivered a speech, positively assessing the cooperation of the RA and the AR parliaments. He has noted that the parliamentarians of Armenia always raise the fair demand of Artsakh people on international different platforms.

The RA NA Vice President highlighted the steps being taken in expanding the framework of the Friendship Group with Artsakh Parliament and increasing the number of the deputies visiting Artsakh.

Eduard Sharmazanov has opined that the problem of Artsakh has no relation with the problems of Catalonia, Crimea, Ossetia and Abkhazia: it is totally another problem. “We should be able to tell our European colleagues on all platforms that the Artsakh republic has been separated from the Soviet Union with the same legislative norms, as any entity of the Soviet Union,” he said and added that the independence of Artsakh is not legal, thus the independence of the former USSR republics, now Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia being EU members are not legal.

It has been noted that the Artsakh Republic is considered one of the oases of the regional democracy.

“If in Azerbaijan they go to family totalitarianism, then in Artsakh they go to democracy. We should give impetus to our international colleagues,” the RA NA Vice President underlined.

He has expressed conviction that the foreign colleagues, who visiting Artsakh, has returned admired understanding that there are 150.000 freedom fighters in Artsakh, and the fight of Artsakh is not against Azerbaijan, but for freedom and independence.

Ending his speech Mr Sharmazanov has underlined that in the issue of Artsakh in the RA Parliament the party affiliation is not prior - everybody has the same position in this issue.

Summing up the work of the first part of the sitting, the RA NA President Ara Babloyan underlined that the Constitutional reforms had been made for the quality of the government and the improvement of the democratic level. In the RA NA President’s speech, in Armenia and in Artsakh the best way had been chosen in terms of security, as well as providing the citizens’ welfare.

The Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Ashotyan delivered a speech on The Debates on the Theme of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh Conflict on the International Platforms: Old Stereotypes and New Tendencies.

“The Artsakh problem is one of the RA foreign policy prior directions. On all platforms the legislative and executive authorities with joint efforts work in order to get decent answers in the frameworks of the international community, and corresponding favourable political environment is created for the settlement of the problem,” the Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Ashotyan underlined.

Armen Ashotyan considered the most important precondition regularly voicing of the Artsakh problem in order to keep the issue in the new political situations and world developments.

“Artsakh problem, being specific, nevertheless, by the Western political classifications is considered to be in one of the problems of the common group of the international non-solved conflicts in general. In the post-Soviet territories the emerged conflicts have their origin, the reasons, the legal regimes of the settlement, the phases of the development and today’s international standards. Therefore, being classified in the sub-group of those non-solved conflicts we get additional challenges which are important in order to differentiate the Artsakh conflict from other problems in the frameworks of the international community. One of the important directions of the Armenian political thought and diplomatic efforts is ensuring the Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ regular activities,” Armen Ashotyan noted.

The work of the 12^th sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and the National Assembly of Artsakh Republic was over with this.

Mr Ghulyan highlighted the numerous meetings of the deputies of the parliaments in the previous two years, which reliably provided the full cooperation between the two parliaments.

“Only in April-July 2016 almost all deputies of the Armenian Parliament visited Artsakh and without exception, all parliamentary factions very often taking with them our colleagues of the foreign parliaments,” the Head of the Artsakh Parliament.

He underlined the efficiency joint sittings and thematic debates of the Standing Committees: during that period the format of the issues is outlined which is included in the agenda of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation.

The AR NA President has noted that they assess the efforts of the RA National Assembly deputies for decently presenting the positions of the Armenian sides in the international parliamentary structures and facing the initiatives with distorting the essence of the problem and biased formulations by the Azerbaijani authorities.

“I am sure that today’s joint debates will prompt us in what direction we should activate the opportunities of the parliamentary diplomacy for changing them into mechanisms consonant with more effective requirements,” Ashot Ghulyan underlined.

Touching upon the theme relating to the commonalities and peculiarities of the post-constitutional processes in Armenia and in Artsakh, Mr Ghulyan has expressed conviction that there is no need for joint debates and counseling in this sphere.

“I would like to express my satisfaction with our joint work of the previous years with the following formulation: the cooperation with the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia is the most established, effective and demanded one for the National Assembly of Artsakh Republic. This platform does not only give an opportunity in terms of the exchange of legislative experience, but it is a peculiar pipe for us as for establishing ties with the parliamentarians of different countries, and as for voicing out loud about the position of Artsakh from the international parliamentary tribunes,” the Head of Artsakh Parliament said.

Summing up his speech, Ashot Ghulyan thanked the President of the RA National Assembly Ara Babloyan, his colleagues of the Armenian Parliament for the warm reception, readiness of preserving and developing in any way the created traditions and wished the participants effective work.

Afterwards the parliamentarians turned into agenda items.

Within the framework of the theme The Post-Constitutional Processes in Armenia and Artsakh: Commonalities and Peculiarities the Chairman of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs and Protection of Human Rights Hrayr Tovmasyan, underlining with satisfaction the fact that both Armenia and Artsakh had successfully overcome the first wave of the post-constitutional amendments: in the RA two important laws (the Electoral Code and the law RA NA Rules of Procedure) and in Artsakh (the relevant amendments to the law NA Rules of Procedure) were passed, by which the order of the elections of the President of the republic and the amendments following it. Mr Tovmasyan has underlined that two Constitutions essentially differ especially in terms of the government form, but they are identical in the human basic rights and freedoms and guarantees, they are universal from the viewpoint of being led by the same philosophy in having effective system of government and state. The peculiarities of the two states are taken into consideration: the two states have not gone through imitating each other and mechanically reproducing the legislation.

Speaking about the commonalities the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the RA Parliament has noted that in Armenia and in Artsakh there is one important commonality: deprivation from the system of the double framed executive power.

In Hrayr Tovmasyan's word, in terms of post-electoral processes, stability and predictability of the system the RA new Constitution has already given its positive result. It has been noted that the adoption of the two important laws is expected: the Judicial Code and the law on Constitutional Court. The next most important amendment is considered to be the legal regulations concerning the structure of the government and the order of the activity.

Mr Tovmasyan emphasized the compliance of the legislation with the Constitution and the full fulfillment of the provisions of the Mother Law.

The AR NA Chairman of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Hovik Jivanyan, presenting the constitutional developments and reforms in Artsakh, has noted that the April war followed the constitutional reforms in Artsakh which has left a trace on the process.It has been noted that the presidential model of the state government was presented to the referendum. In Mr Jivanyan’s word, the new Constitution of Artsakh Republic essentially differs from the previous one, as well as from the RA Constitutions.

Hovik Jivanyan presented the provisions and the peculiarities of the AR new Constitution. The deputy informed that by the adoption of the new Constitution a need emerged for a legislative wide-scale work to be done: works were done aimed at building capacities of the National Assembly conditioned by that circumstance. The Committee Chairman highlighted the cooperation in the Inter-Committee format between the parliaments of Armenia and Artsakh, the activation of mutual ties and the effective use of new opportunities of cooperation.

The questions addressed to the key speakers related to the process of complying the legislation with the new Constitution, the steps taken to the provision of the public awareness on the constitutional reforms, the formation of the local authorities, particularly the impact of the enlargement process on the borderline communities.

The RA NA Vice President Eduard Sharmazanov delivered a speech, positively assessing the cooperation of the RA and the AR parliaments. He has noted that the parliamentarians of Armenia always raise the fair demand of Artsakh people on international different platforms.

The RA NA Vice President highlighted the steps being taken in expanding the framework of the Friendship Group with Artsakh Parliament and increasing the number of the deputies visiting Artsakh.

Eduard Sharmazanov has opined that the problem of Artsakh has no relation with the problems of Catalonia, Crimea, Ossetia and Abkhazia: it is totally another problem. “We should be able to tell our European colleagues on all platforms that the Artsakh republic has been separated from the Soviet Union with the same legislative norms, as any entity of the Soviet Union,” he said and added that the independence of Artsakh is not legal, thus the independence of the former USSR republics, now Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia being EU members are not legal.

It has been noted that the Artsakh Republic is considered one of the oases of the regional democracy.

“If in Azerbaijan they go to family totalitarianism, then in Artsakh they go to democracy. We should give impetus to our international colleagues,” the RA NA Vice President underlined.

He has expressed conviction that the foreign colleagues, who visiting Artsakh, has returned admired understanding that there are 150.000 freedom fighters in Artsakh, and the fight of Artsakh is not against Azerbaijan, but for freedom and independence.

Ending his speech Mr Sharmazanov has underlined that in the issue of Artsakh in the RA Parliament the party affiliation is not prior - everybody has the same position in this issue.

Summing up the work of the first part of the sitting, the RA NA President Ara Babloyan underlined that the Constitutional reforms had been made for the quality of the government and the improvement of the democratic level. In the RA NA President’s speech, in Armenia and in Artsakh the best way had been chosen in terms of security, as well as providing the citizens’ welfare.

The Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Ashotyan delivered a speech on The Debates on the Theme of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh Conflict on the International Platforms: Old Stereotypes and New Tendencies.

“The Artsakh problem is one of the RA foreign policy prior directions. On all platforms the legislative and executive authorities with joint efforts work in order to get decent answers in the frameworks of the international community, and corresponding favourable political environment is created for the settlement of the problem,” the Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Ashotyan underlined.

Armen Ashotyan considered the most important precondition regularly voicing of the Artsakh problem in order to keep the issue in the new political situations and world developments.

“Artsakh problem, being specific, nevertheless, by the Western political classifications is considered to be in one of the problems of the common group of the international non-solved conflicts in general. In the post-Soviet territories the emerged conflicts have their origin, the reasons, the legal regimes of the settlement, the phases of the development and today’s international standards. Therefore, being classified in the sub-group of those non-solved conflicts we get additional challenges which are important in order to differentiate the Artsakh conflict from other problems in the frameworks of the international community. One of the important directions of the Armenian political thought and diplomatic efforts is ensuring the Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ regular activities,” Armen Ashotyan noted.

The work of the 12^th sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and the National Assembly of Artsakh Republic was over with this.

Mr Ghulyan highlighted the numerous meetings of the deputies of the parliaments in the previous two years, which reliably provided the full cooperation between the two parliaments.

“Only in April-July 2016 almost all deputies of the Armenian Parliament visited Artsakh and without exception, all parliamentary factions very often taking with them our colleagues of the foreign parliaments,” the Head of the Artsakh Parliament.

He underlined the efficiency joint sittings and thematic debates of the Standing Committees: during that period the format of the issues is outlined which is included in the agenda of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation.

The AR NA President has noted that they assess the efforts of the RA National Assembly deputies for decently presenting the positions of the Armenian sides in the international parliamentary structures and facing the initiatives with distorting the essence of the problem and biased formulations by the Azerbaijani authorities.

“I am sure that today’s joint debates will prompt us in what direction we should activate the opportunities of the parliamentary diplomacy for changing them into mechanisms consonant with more effective requirements,” Ashot Ghulyan underlined.

Touching upon the theme relating to the commonalities and peculiarities of the post-constitutional processes in Armenia and in Artsakh, Mr Ghulyan has expressed conviction that there is no need for joint debates and counseling in this sphere.

“I would like to express my satisfaction with our joint work of the previous years with the following formulation: the cooperation with the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia is the most established, effective and demanded one for the National Assembly of Artsakh Republic. This platform does not only give an opportunity in terms of the exchange of legislative experience, but it is a peculiar pipe for us as for establishing ties with the parliamentarians of different countries, and as for voicing out loud about the position of Artsakh from the international parliamentary tribunes,” the Head of Artsakh Parliament said.

Summing up his speech, Ashot Ghulyan thanked the President of the RA National Assembly Ara Babloyan, his colleagues of the Armenian Parliament for the warm reception, readiness of preserving and developing in any way the created traditions and wished the participants effective work.

Afterwards the parliamentarians turned into agenda items.

Within the framework of the theme The Post-Constitutional Processes in Armenia and Artsakh: Commonalities and Peculiarities the Chairman of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs and Protection of Human Rights Hrayr Tovmasyan, underlining with satisfaction the fact that both Armenia and Artsakh had successfully overcome the first wave of the post-constitutional amendments: in the RA two important laws (the Electoral Code and the law RA NA Rules of Procedure) and in Artsakh (the relevant amendments to the law NA Rules of Procedure) were passed, by which the order of the elections of the President of the republic and the amendments following it. Mr Tovmasyan has underlined that two Constitutions essentially differ especially in terms of the government form, but they are iden