From The Editor
Armen K. Hovannisian



Welcome. The Armenian Bar Association has arrived.
       In its wings comes a vision of hope supported by the prospect of coordinated efforts undertaken by Armenian lawyers for the advancement of the Armenian people, as individuals, as communities, and as a nation. The Association promises to be a vital link in the chain of action and reaction directed at the vindication of rights and the resolution of grievances.
       On behalf of the Association, I thank the members who have expressed their willingness to join in the various areas of collective legal contribution. To the many lawyers who have yet to come forward with a pledge of membership, I urge you to make available the time and resources necessary to join our endeavors.
       Those endeavors will be spearheaded by the Association's three standing committees: Armenian Rights Watch, Pro Bono, and Continuing Legal Education. The initial agendas of these committees are set forth elsewhere in this Newsletter. Your participation in these pursuits will inure to the benefit of the Association and to the accomplishment of its worthy objectives.
       The Association also will provide the uncommon opportunity for Armenian lawyers to share ideas and developments relative to their respective practices. It will supply the means of building bridges of informational exchange and professional dialogue.
       The Wall Street lawyer will forge an enduring friendship with the sole practitioner in Los Angeles. The inverse condemnation specialist from New Jersey and the Washington land use attorney will establish a mutually beneficial relationship. The products liability lawyer from Michigan and the insurance defense practitioner from Massachusetts will relate competing perspectives and discuss current developments in the law.
       Beyond the confines of each member's area of practice, the Association will be marked by a transcending commitment to collaborative service. The Association hopes to combine seemingly different but actually harmonious elements in an environment conducive to focused, energetic and meaningful involvement.
       This Newsletter will chronicle the news and information bearing on the Association's activities and will address topics of legal and community interest. Because of financial constraints, the Newsletter will hereafter be provided only to Association members and sponsors.
       There is much work to be done. Please join us so that we may together face the challenges that lie ahead.

Mr. Hovannisian, a graduate of U.C.L.A. School of Law, is associated with the firm of Chadbourne and Parke .

MESSAGE TO OUR MEMBERS

Much will be said about our professional responsibility, our patriotic commitment and our service to our clients as we inaugurate this worthwhile organization.
       My words are simply to caution you that you do not become victims of the age-old trap that so often befalls Armenian organizations. Do not focus your attention on those who do not join us! Our community is large, our interests are varied and we have many who are passive and uncommitted. For us who are committed to worry about those fallen away members who lack our determination is unwise and foolish.
       We will focus on how to better achieve the strongest possible relationship with those who have taken the time to join, made the economic and personal commitment and believe that there is a brighter future for us working together. Some of us even believe that some day we might add a measure of success to the future of our national homeland.

       WALTER KARABIAN
Mr. Karabian, former Speaker of the California State Assembly, is a partner of the Los Angeles firm of Karns & Karabian.

Committees On The Move: Chairmen Named
The standing committees of the Armenian Bar Association have already launched a variety of programs of community service and professional development. In this segment the recently named committee chairmen file their first report.

ARMENIAN RIGHTS WATCH
By Mark Momjian and
Raffi K. Hovannisian

The Association's Armenian Rights Watch monitors and takes action on issues affecting Armenians nationally and internationally. Its fifty members across the nation survey developments in their practices and communities and identify questions of concern which require response and rectification.
       In their effort to protect the rights of the community, members of the Watch have outlined several areas of committee operation. These include (1) impact litigation to defend Armenian national and communal interests; (2) action to preserve the integrity of Armenian history, e.g. , the Genocide and Karabagh; (3) community education on civil rights and civic obligations; (4) legal and judicial reform projects for Soviet Armenia, as well as counseling interested investors on Soviet joint venture and other relevant laws; and (5) general anti-defamation activities including responding to slanderous expression and discriminatory conduct.
       In this connection, the Watch has already reacted to two instances of deliberate misrepresentation and inaccurate historical reporting. First, members Ara L. Tramblian and Raffi K. Hovannisian wrote a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, and consulted with its staff, in response to an article that cast doubt on the nature of the Azerbaijani massacre of Armenians in Sumgait in February 1988 and on the historical connection between Mountainous Karabagh and Armenia. Second, Mark Momjian responded to the Philadelphia-based Jewish Exponent's publication of a letter from a representative of a Turkish organization who denied the Genocide and deceitfully portrayed Armenians as anti-Semitic. Copies of our responses, as well as the articles to which they refer, are available from the Association's headquarters.
       Finally, the Watch has activated its national network of members to encourage U.S. Senators across the country to cosponsor and support Senate Joint Resolution 212, which seeks officially to recognize April 24, 1990 as the 75 th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
       We encourage all interested members to remain vigilant and to keep in touch as we work together to advance Armenian rights. With dignity and justice for all.


PRO BONO COMMITTEE

By George Garikian and
Zaven V. Sinanian

       The Pro Bono Committee manages a national program for indigents and charitable causes.
       In the initial phase, the Committee expects to concentrate its work in areas where the large influx of immigrants has created many social and legal questions concerning the Armenian community. We will do our utmost to address these concerns.
       The Committee also intends to expand its services to other locations through the ranks of the general membership.
       For all this we need your help. Be alert to any case or circumstance that warrants the Association's pro bono attention. And please consider handling one or two pro bono matters a year as part of the Association's program.
       Drop us a line with the good news, or call for additional information.

Azerbaijani Violations and Soviet
Responsibilities: The Illegal
Blockade of Armenia, Karabagh

By Raffi K. Hovannisian

Since February of last year, the Armenian majority of Mountainous Karabagh, an ancient Armenian province attached by Stalin in 1923 to neighboring Soviet Azerbaijan in order to curry political favor with the Turks, has taken President Mikhail Gorbachev's stated reforms to heart and carried out a campaign for "miatsum," or union, with Armenia. This they have done by virtue of their status as an Autonomous Region of the Soviet Union and under the authority of Article 70 of the Soviet Constitution, which guarantees the right to self-determination.
       The people of Soviet Armenia, for their part, have reacted with solidarity and have moved to broaden this struggle to include calls for greater civil, cultural and environmental freedoms. They have sought more representative government, an end to graft and corruption, a national return to the Armenian language, and increased economic autonomy from Moscow.
       But the movement has remained focused on trying to convince Moscow that the success of "perestroika" is inextricably connected with a positive solution to the Karabagh question.
       The Soviet leadership, however, has had neither the political courage nor the legal wisdom to act on the Armenian demands. Indeed, in a string of half-measures which include linking Karabagh administratively to Moscow but leaving it under Azerbaijan's jurisdiction, the Kremlin has helped turn a peaceful, constitutional movement into a violently boiling crisis.
       In doing this, Moscow, its Constitution notwithstanding, has decided to maintain the territorial status quo, although that status quo is a direct consequence of a Stalin era whose now discredited mistakes and excesses are otherwise being rectified. Of course, the Azerbaijanis and their conservative allies have relied on Article 78 of the same Constitution to argue that a Soviet republic's boundaries cannot be changed without its consent. While the Armenians and international legal experts have asserted the primacy of the provision for self-determination and the need to amend the Constitution to delete anything to the contrary, the Moscow establishment has sat on Article 78 as a means to leave Stalin's breach intact. To this end, even though the instant issue is legally one of the self-determination of an Autonomous Region of the Soviet Union, the Soviet authorities have consistently and wrongly referred to the dilemma as a territorial dispute between the Republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
       The Azerbaijanis, emboldened by Moscow's reaction to the Armenian quest, have responded to it with deadly violence in Sumgait, Baku and elsewhere and, more recently, with an economic blockade of Karabagh and Soviet Armenia. For several summer months this year, Armenia received no petroleum and other essentials for the economy by way of the rail link, which passes through Azerbaijan, upon which it depends for sustenance. The reserves of essential materials were drained, and reconstruction efforts in the earthquake zone came to a halt. Industries, transportation, and even first aid services were virtually shut down in August and September. In Karabagh, a more severe situation continues to prevail, as the months-long siege there remains in effect. Food supplies have been exhausted and harvesting effectively blocked because of a lack of fuel. In an effort to starve Karabagh into submission, Azerbaijani authorities have closed highways and roads leading to Karabagh and linking it with Armenia.
       Despite the fact that the blockade of Armenia has since been lifted, or at least curtailed, Azerbaijani violations are not waived as a matter of law and comity. Indeed, the law condemns the Azerbaijanis' resort to force in attempting to pressure the population of Karabagh to renounce its right to self-determination, and their push to replace the process of a constitutional solution with the politics of aggression. After all, the Azerbaijani economic blockade was imposed in retaliation for Karabagh's expression, and Armenia's support, of a right guaranteed by the Soviet Constitution.
       Such retaliation contravenes the customary and conventional law of nations. The Azerbaijani economic blockade of Armenia and Karabagh is unprecedented in Soviet history, is unconscionable, and is a violation of international (not to mention Soviet) law. In particular, any blockade of an economic nature is illegal in all non-wartime situations, 1 D. O'Connell, International Law 300-301 (2d ed. 1970); such economic aggression is regarded as an act of war which confers belligerent rights upon the party at which it is aimed. See id .
       The Azerbaijani blockade is also forbidden by, inter alia , (1) the U.N. General Assembly's Declaration of Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, Oct. 24, 1970, U.N.G.A. Res. 2625 (XXV), 25 U.N. GAOR, Supp. (No. 28) 121, U.N. Doc. A/8028 (1971), which reaffirms the principles of equal rights and self-determination and imposes a duty to refrain from acts of reprisal involving the use of force and from any forcible action "which deprives peoples... of their right to self-determination....", and (2) the U.N. General Assembly's Resolution on the Definition of Aggression, Dec. 14, 1974, U.N.G.A. Res. 3314 (XXIX), 29 U.N. GAOR, Supp. (No. 31) 142, U.N. Doc. A/9631 (1975), by whose terms a blockade is an act of aggression for which no consideration whatsoever may serve as a justification.
       By the force and authority of these enactments of international law, and on the basis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Dec. 10, 1948, U.N.G.A. Res. 217 A (III), U.N. Doc. A/810, at 71 (1948) (guaranteeing the freedoms from discrimination and of movement, expression, association, property and cultural preservation, and affirming that the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government, as expressed in genuine elections of freely chosen representatives), and the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, done at Helsinki, Aug. 1, 1975, Dep't State Pub. No. 8826 (GEN'L FOR. POL. SER. 298) (requiring participating States to respect human rights, fundamental freedoms, equal rights and self-determination of peoples and to eliminate any form of violation of these principles) to which it is a signatory, the Soviet government is legally obligated to respect the right to self-determination of the majority of Karabagh's population, to prevent the imposition of any further blockade of Armenia and Karabagh, and to guarantee the security of life and property of Armenians in Karabagh and Azerbaijan. In conformity with these obligations, the Soviet Union must organize a free plebiscite in Karabagh to determine its population's "internal and external political status, without external interference, and to pursue as they wish their political, economic, social and cultural development." Final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, supra , Art. VIII; Declaration of Principles of International Law, supra .
       Soviet Armenia, for its part, on the basis of both its right to self-determination and its sovereign juridical status under the Soviet Constitution, is legally entitled, through its governmental organs, to cultivate international relations, for example trade arrangements with neighboring, non-hostile countries, to secure Armenia in the event that Azerbaijan again resorts to acts of aggression and the Soviet Union fails effectively to repudiate such acts.
       Finally, as the result of Azerbaijani aggression and Soviet delaying tactics, the people of Karabagh, having been deprived of their local representatives by virtue of Moscow's January 1989 designation of a special administration of the region, have recently formed the National Council of Mountainous Karabagh to be their central governing body. The National Council, which has been branded illegal and unconstitutional by Soviet authorities, represents an alternative government to the special administration and enjoys the support of Karabagh's inhabitants. It is considered by them as the sole legitimate authority in Karabagh and the fully invested representative of its national liberation movement.
       As such, the National Council has appealed directly to the United Nations Security Council for assistance in the security of Karabagh's Armenian population. The National Council's petition:
"According to Article 2 of the December 10, 1948 declaration of the General Assembly of the U.N., each individual has rights to freedoms, each individual and all members of his family have the right not to be subjected to any discrimination whatsoever, each individual has the right to move freely in his country. The U.N. declaration has always been violated in Karabagh, and today words reflecting the real threat of physical liquidation of the Armenian population already can be heard. Calls for the repetition of the Sumgait genocide are being made, and are being defended by official circles in the Republic of Azerbaijan. For long months now, this small region of a hundred and fifty thousand Christians has been under the cruelest of blockades, homicides and other crimes of violence are being committed on a regular basis, the deportation of the indigenous population is being realized.
       In spite of the numerous appeals made to the highest instances, the leadership of our country is not implementing effective means that guarantee the security of the population.
       Today we are appealing to you with a fervent request - to do everything possible to secure the safety of the Armenian population of Karabagh and, if need be, even to dispatch contingents of U.N. forces. Tomorrow may be too late."
       The struggle for freedom and for the law continues on.

Mr. Hovannisian, an international lawyer, is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and
the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University).

The Members of the Armenian Bar Association

(as of October 1, 1989)

Founding Sponsors
Garo K. Hovannisian, Los Angeles, CA
Walter J. Karabian, Los Angeles, CA

Members
Ara Aghishian, Hollywood, CA
Peter Akmajian, Tucson, AZ
Scott G. Alexander, Tavares, FL
Judge Alice E. Altoon, Van Nuys, CA
Justice Richard Amerian Sherman Oaks, CA
Charles M. Arakelian, Fairview, NJ
Christopher T. Armen, Los Angeles, CA
Nairie Arslanian, Los Angeles, CA
Robert Aydabirian, Paris, France
David Balabanian, San Francisco, CA
David J. Barber, Watertown, MA
Charles Barsam, Newport Beach, CA
Angela Barseghian, Beverly-Hills, CA
Silva E. Barsumyan, Fairview, NJ
Joseph L. Basralian, Hackensack, NJ
Steven G. Bazil, West Chestea, PA
Cecelia L. Bedeian, New York, NY
Daniel V. Behesnilian, Beverly Hills, CA
H. Nicholas Berberian, Chicago, IL
Rodrigo Bermeo, Quito, Ecuador
Matthew K. Bogoshian, San Francisco, CA
Lucille J. Boston, Marina del Rey CA
Victor H. Boyajian, Newark, NJ
Rita A. Bozaciyan, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Jack Chadrjian, New York, NY
Harry S. Cherken, Jr., Philadelphia, PA
Vatche Chorbajian, Tujunga, CA
Sally Ann Cotrel, Los Angeles, CA
Arsen Danielian, Hollywood, CA
Denise G. Darmanian, Flemington, NJ
Anush Der-Bagdasarian, Los Angeles, CA
James G. Derian, Southfield, MI
Anthony K. Dilimetin, New York, NY
Maral Donoyan, Los Angeles, CA
Christine Engustian, White Plains, NY
Judge David A. Erickson, Chicago, IL
Mitchell Esoian, Hartford, CT
Margaret Obozian Gairo, Philadelphia, PA
Ani Mgrdichian Garikian, Glendale, CA
George Garikian, Los Angeles, CA
Charles R. Garry, San Francisco, CA
Robert N. Goshgarian, Waukegan, IL
Malcolm M. Guleserian, Fullerton, CA
Justice Vincent Gurahian, White Plains, NY
Armen Hairapetian, Los Angeles, CA
Shahen Hairapetian, Los Angeles, CA
Tamar Hajian, Waltham, MA
Meline Haratunian, Washington, DC
Michael Hartounian, Los Angeles, CA
Armen K. Hovannisian, Van Nuys, CA
Armine K. Hovannisian, Los Angeles, CA
Raffi K. Hovannisian, Los Angeles, CA
Gregory G. Injeian, Glen Burnie, MD
Avo Injejikian, Los Angeles, CA
Corinne V. Kachadourian, Morristown, NJ
Robert A. Kaloosdian, Watertown, MA
Susan L. Karamanian, Dallas, TX
Dennis R. Kasper, Los Angeles, CA
Albert I. Kassabian, Annandale, VA
Gregory N. Kazarian, Chicago, IL
Mark A. Kelegian, Irvine, CA
Greg Keosian, Los Angeles, CA
Saro Kerkonian, Beverly Hills, CA
Lora Keshishian, Sherman Oaks, CA
Lori R. Keurian, North Bergen NJ
Gary R. Kevorkian, Granby, CT
Gary R. Khachian, Stamford, CT
Richard Khederian, Detroit; MI
Lauren Z. Koshgarian, Providence, RI
Nicholas Koumjian, Los Angeles, CA
Priscilla Krikorian, Washington, DC
Van Z. Krikorian, Washington, DC
Liberty Magarian, Great Falls, VA
Cynthia M. Mardian, Denver, CO
Jack C. Mardoian, Lake Forest, IL
Rosemary Matossian, Martinet, CA
Vahe K. Messerlian, Los Angeles, CA
Craiq H. Missakian, Los Angeles, CA
Albert Momjian, Philadelphia, PA
Mark Momjian, Philadelphia, PA
Gary T. Moomjian, New York, NY
George T, Mooradian, Long Beach, CA
Viken S. Mouradian, Glendale, CA
Edward V. Murachanian, Brick, NJ
Sumpod K. Murdichian, Indianapolis, IN
Clinton J. Najarian, Reading, PA
Judge John K. Najarian, Providence, RI
John K. Nazarian, Los Angeles, CA
Carol A. Nemetz, New Providence, NJ
Sonya Nersessian, Chestnu, Hill, MA
George E. Nicholas, Garden City, NY
Kenneth G. Noorigian, San Diego, CA
Alen Petrossian, Washington, DC
Nodgar Piranian, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tamar Poladian, Los Angeles, CA
Robert Roomian, Alexandria, VA
Thomas J. Samuelian, Cambridge, MA
Frederick D. Sarkis, Merritt Island, FL
Stephen A. Saroian, Woodland Hills, CA
Dickran A. Semerdjian, San Diego, CA
Judge Aram Serverian, Redwood City, CA
Armen Shahinian, Roseland, NJ
Ruben B. Shehigian, Jr., Chicago, IL
Donald R. Sherinian, Des Moines, IA
Zaven V. Sinanian, Los Angeles, CA
Vicken Sonetz-Papazian, Pasadena, CA
Narine Sulahian, Reseda, CA
Ronald Surabian, Saugus, MA
Jeffrey R. Surenian, Toms River, NJ
Paul Takakjian, Los Angeles, CA
James A. Tanielian, St. Clair Shores, MI
Robert Tembeckjian, New York, NY
Berj A. Terzian, New York, NY
Shavarsh Toriguian, Glendale, CA
Ara L. Tramblian, Annandale, VA
Kaloust Yedibalian, Wyckoff, NJ
Raymond Yezeguelian, Paris, France Mark Zartarian, Birmingham, MI

Members in Action

BUILDING FAITH IN ARMENIA
By Gary Richard Khachian

Following a judicial clerkship before my association with my present law firm, I embarked on what was to be one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. I traveled to the Armenian town of Stepanavan along with 25 other Armenian-American volunteers. Our four-week mission was to build a one-family house which would serve as a prototype for a large rebuilding project scheduled to begin in October. Although the volunteers came from different parts of the country and from different backgrounds, we were all united by the common goal of bringing hope and assistance to the earthquake victims of Armenia.
       To accomplish our goal, the group was forced to make certain sacrifices. The professional women with us modestly assumed the role of the traditional Armenian woman, forsaking for the time being the deference they were accustomed to receiving in the United States as a result of their successful positions in their respective careers. It was frustrating for me to have to rely on my carpentry skills rather than putting to use my legal training and experience. That training and experience, however, could never figure to be as important to our common cause as the commitment to cooperate in the reconstruction efforts.
       All the sacrifices were inconsequential in comparison to the suffering and devastation of Armenia. The somberness of the atmosphere, though, was invariably lifted by the laughter and spirit of the people. Throughout our stay, the people's generosity in the face of such an enormous tragedy impressed me. While visiting the town of Spitak, which the earthquake had leveled, we were treated to an impromptu feast by a family who lived in a tin shell. Feeling guilty, I asked the host what we could do in return. He replied, "Just do not let the people in America forget about us!" I am convinced that people like this will survive and rebuild their lives, because of the extreme closeness of their families.
       In Armenia, families are "close" in a very literal sense. The different generations live and work together. I was amused to watch a middle-aged man, who had rescued our group from the side of a mountain road when our bus broke down, receive reprimands from his elderly mother. She was not upset that he had brought a few dozen strangers to their modest home unannounced at midnight, but rather for being out so late without letting her know where he was.
       Six thousand miles away from home I never felt so at home. Standing in an incense-filled church in Kirovakan, I closed my eyes for a moment and could not distinguish any difference between the beautiful music I was hearing and the Divine Liturgy as it is celebrated in my Connecticut parish every Sunday. The monumental churches crafted from stone which fill the countryside symbolize the strength and solidarity of the Armenian people.
       The man who aided us on the side of the road and welcomed us into his home and his life embodied that strength. He offered several toasts to us, to our families, and to all Armenians. "Although we met by chance this evening," he began, "our meeting is a cause for celebration. For whenever two Armenians meet, even if it is on the streets of Stepanavan, it is cause for celebration!"
       After two months of practicing law back in America, I realize how important this journey was, not only for my own personal growth but for making me a more effective advocate. Waking up at dawn for a 10-hour day, followed by our emotional and endearing visits with our brothers and sisters in Armenia, showed me the limits of my endurance. Now, when speaking before a judge, I try to recapture the sincerity of the toasts I proposed at the many dinner tables in Armenia. Most importantly, I have gained complete confidence in my ability to succeed in the competitive field of law, because after all, "Yes Hye Em!"
Mr. Khachian, a graduate of Suffolk University School of Law, is an associate with the Stamford, Connecticut firm of Ryan, Ryan, Johnson, Clear & Deluca.

Joint Ventures And Soviet Law
By Shauarsh Toriguian

Under recent legislation inspired by "perestroika," the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe offer vast possibilities in the area of joint ventures and foreign economic alliances. A project now in place between the Harvard Graduate School of Business and the Moscow-based Research Institute of External Economic Affairs to develop guidelines for managers interested in bilateral joint ventures is one manifestation of new opportunities made possible by the current developments in the law.
       The Decree of the U.S.S.R. Council of Ministers of January 1987, with its subsequent amendments and revisions, is the enabling statute providing the authority and procedure by which East-West joint ventures may be explored and instituted.
       Pursuant to Article 2 of the Decree, ministries and government agencies of the Soviet republics may submit joint venture proposals to the Council of Ministers of their respective republics. In the Soviet Republic of Armenia, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry performs this function by promoting the development of economic, scientific, technical and commercial relations between Armenia and other countries. The Chamber includes the firm "APAGA" (FUTURE) to which "joint enterprises, associations, firms, banks, ministries, departments and cooperatives may apply. . .for assistance in establishing foreign trade, economic, scientific and technical relations."
       Article 4 of the Decree provides that "one or more Soviet enterprises. . .and one or more foreign firms. . .may be partners in joint ventures." Although the Soviet interest in a joint venture was originally prescribed to be not less than 51%, that level has recently been reduced to not less than 20%. Such reduction can only foster and facilitate foreign interest and investment.
       With regard to the encouragement and protection of the foreign ( i.e. , non-Soviet) partner in a joint venture, equipment and materials imported by foreign partners in a joint venture are exempt from customs duties and the property of a joint venture may not be requisitioned or confiscated (Articles 13 and 15). Also, joint ventures are exempt from taxes on their profits during the two initial years of their operation. Thereafter, they are taxed at the rate of 20% of their profit.
       Perhaps the greatest impetus to and encouragement of U.S.A. - U.S.S.R. joint ventures, including Armenian joint ventures, can be provided by the United States government. One dimension of such a progressive policy could include providing protection under the federal investment insurance program to investors in the Soviet Union. Congress has recently afforded this protection to Hungary and Poland.
       A number of firms, including the New York-based U.S.A. - U.S.S.R. Economic Trade Council and Mercator, specialize in trade with the Soviet Union and have arranged several joint ventures. It is time to establish an Armenian Trade Council to organize trade with Soviet Armenia and to set up joint ventures with Armenian cooperatives and state agencies.

Mr. Toriguian received his LL.B. from London University and his S.J.D, from Oxford University .

Student Forum

Law Students and the Armenian Bar Association
By Vahe K. Messerlian

Long overdue, the Armenian Bar Association has made its debut. The Association is aimed at bringing together lawyers of Armenian heritage to address the legal issues of the community and to protect the interests and rights of its constituents.
       Yet the Association is not only for practicing lawyers. It also holds great potential for law students, who can certainly profit by availing themselves of the various opportunities and experiences made possible by the Association.
       The Association offers access to a network of attorneys and judges across the nation. As a young organization, it already includes more than a hundred attorneys, judges, and other interested persons spanning the spectrum of legal practice.
       Second, the Association looks to be a locus where we, the law students, can meet each other socially, exchange views and, yes, even commiserate! It can also serve as a coordination center which connects Armenian law student clubs with each other and helps organize and sponsor local events, panels, and lectures.
       Next, the student member can take an active part in seeing a national law society move from infancy to maturity. By participating in the Annual National Meeting, local committee meetings, Continuing Legal Education workshops, and the various programs implemented, every student member will gain invaluable experience.
       Finally, the Association is a forum where we, as future advocates, can serve our community in a most vital way. Not long ago, no Armenian lawyers' group existed which could comprehensively address the legal needs of the Armenian diaspora. Now, the Armenian Bar Association is that organization.
       The challenges that face Armenians worldwide are tremendous. Join us today in meeting them.

Vahe K. Messerlian is a third-year law student at Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles .

· Quote of the Quarter : "If a man is killed in Paris, it is a murder; the throats of fifty thousand people are cut in the East, and it is a question." Victor Hugo

· Announcements : The Yale Journal of International Law has published an article by Vahakn N. Dadrian entitled "Genocide As A Problem of National And International Law: The World War I Armenian Case And Its Contemporary Legal Ramifications." Call or write the Association for your complimentary copy.

· Manucharov Kept in Prison : While the world focused on the December 7, 1988 earthquake in Armenia, the Soviet Union jailed the eleven members of the "Karabagh Committee" and other popular Armenian leaders for advocating democracy and self-determination in Mountainous Karabagh. In May 1989, the Karabagh Committee was finally granted pre-trial release. But Arkady Manucharov is in jail even today. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Helsinki Watch, have long since identified Manucharov as a prisoner of conscience.

       Earlier this year, the Armenians of Charentsavan Electoral District #194 elected Manucharov to the Supreme Soviet of Armenia. The Presidium of the Armenian Supreme Soviet annulled that election as "illegal" on the grounds that incarcerated individuals may not participate in elections (Constitution of the U.S.S.R., Article 96) and that the laws of the U.S.S.R. have full force and effect in all constituent republics and take precedence in the event of a conflict with republic laws (Constitution, Article 74).
       On August 27, 1989, the district held another election, and the people again elected Manucharov. Later, the Presidium invalidated the election. The annulment notwithstanding, the Credentials Committee of the Supreme Soviet, upon full investigation of the underlying facts, documents and regulations, concluded that "Manucharov's election does not contravene the Armenian Supreme Soviet's law relating to elections." Consequently, in spite of the Soviet central election law, the Armenian Supreme Soviet, based upon the Credentials Committee's recommendation, overturned the Presidium's decision and officially recognized Manucharov's qualifications to serve as a duly elected deputy thereto. This decision also served as a strong statement about the right to sovereignty of the Soviet Republic of Armenia.

The Armenian Bar Association joins the many Americans, Armenians, and friends of democracy the world over in their continued support for Arkady Manucharov and the movement of which he is a part.

AIMS AND STRUCTURE

The Armenian Bar Association was formed in 1989 to provide an arena for lawyers of Armenian heritage and other interested individuals to come together socially and professionally and to address the legal concerns of the Armenian community.

       The Association is a channel through which attorneys with different backgrounds and at different stages of their career share their expertise and insight. Such an exchange of experience and knowledge forms the backbone of the Association's goal of professional growth and community advancement.
       The Association is a democratic organization. Its members and sponsors support it and give it direction. They approve its Constitution, elect a Board of Governors, nominate prominent jurists as honorary members, and set the policy for the fiscal year.
       The national headquarters, located in Los Angeles, California, coordinates the Association's activities, increases the membership rolls, and carries out the plans and programs of the Association.
       The Armenian Bar Association is committed to serve the profession of law, the interests of its members, and the rights of its constituents.

ACTIVITIES AND BENEFITS

Some of the Association's operations include:

· Annual National Meeting

· Pro Bono Program

· Continuing Legal Education

· Seminars and Professional Workshops

· Armenian Rights Watch

· Association Newsletter

· Amicus Curiae Submissions on Issues of Community Interest

· Access to Nationwide Network of Attorneys

· Topical and Regional Practice Groups

· Coordination of and cooperation with local Armenian lawyers' societies