PILnet and partners support Armenian civil society in challenging discriminatory laws against people with disabilities.
The long history of systematic exclusion of people with disabilities is at a crossroads in Armenia, where the legality of a government-approved list of health conditions that automatically disqualify individuals with disabilities from practicing certain professions was recently challenged in the Constitutional Court.
With the support of our law firm partners Hogan Lovells, the Armenian civil society organization Disability Rights Agenda successfully contested the list, with the court ruling in September 2025 that blanket bans on individuals with certain disabilities is unconstitutional.
The list included blindness, deafness, and a wide range of mental health conditions, and the professional prohibitions extend to those who would serve as judges, raising serious concerns about the impact on the justice system if people with disabilities are excluded.
Disability Rights Agenda is an Armenian civil society organization working to eliminate disability-based discrimination and ensure everyone can participate in society equally, specifically by promoting, protecting, and monitoring the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
The organization reached out to PILnet recently with a request for legal help in researching and drafting a concise amicus brief, a document submitted to the court by a third party providing additional information, expertise, or perspectives to help the court understand the broader implications of the question before it. Disability Rights Agenda wanted to outline the relevant international human rights standards, particularly under the CRPD, to ensure the case is assessed in line with Armenia’s international human rights obligations.
PILnet connected the organization with the law firm Hogan Lovells, which not only helped prepare the amicus brief, but also greatly amplified its impact by arranging a support letter from Judge David S. Tatel, who served in the administration of U.S. President Jimmy Carter as Director of the Office for Civil Rights and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and who is a person with disabilities.
In the letter, Judge Tatel recounts his professional journey as a person with blindness, including presiding over some of the most complex and high-profile cases in the country.
“What matters in judicial service is not whether a judge has a disability, but whether they can perform their judicial duties with reasonable accommodations,” wrote the judge.
“A blanket exclusion of individuals with blindness not only denies opportunities to capable professionals unfairly, but also deprives the judiciary of valuable talent and perspective.”
In its judgement, the court referenced Tatel’s book, no doubt a signal of the impression his contribution made on the deliberations.
Disability Rights Agenda will continue working to end outdated practices that unfairly discriminate against people with disabilities. Mushegh Hovsepyan, the organization’s president, says the decision has significant cultural implications in former Soviet countries like Armenia, where such discriminatory lists are not uncommon.
“While we are not certain that blind or deaf lawyers will immediately apply to become judges after a judgment of unconstitutionality,” said Hovsepyan, “it is crucial to establish the right to choose.”
-Emily Thompson
PILnet Communications