Some 366 members of Armenia’s Chamber of Lawyers are launching a strike on Monday as a sign of protest against what they claim to be the unlawfulness of the judiciary.

The attorneys, who have joined the initiative proposed by one of their colleagues, Gevorg Gyozalyan, will not attend their scheduled hearings today. As  Gyozalyan himself told Tert.am, they are due to meet journalists at 2:00 pm local time to voice the problem and make their statement public.
 

Several members of the Chamber had earlier set up a committee tasked with probing into more flagrant violations in proceedings and proposing solutions to the Cassation Court. But the lawyers later decided to resort to stricter measures.
 

In an open letter to the Court, they say that their steps taken so far (complaints to different agencies, media reports etc.) have been simply ignored, with no positive changes being observed.
 

It comes after a district court in capital Yerevan failed to explore circumstances in a case representing Gyozalyan’s client. The higher courts did not accept his subsequent appeal, thus creating a precedent for future proceedings.
 

Gyozalyan had said that one of the sides in the hearing had connections with the Cassation Court (his father works there).
 

The lawyers are now calling upon the Court to justify its decision in a written form.