A New Horizon for Legal Education: Yerevan Haybusak University and the University ofTeramo Launch a Dual Degree Program
Yerevan Haybusak University and Italy’s University of Teramo are launching a joint education program in law. This partnership aims to enhance the quality of legal education in Armenia by developing competencies required for 21st-century legal professionals.
On June 12, Haybusak University welcomed its Italian partners, and with the signing of an agreement, the joint program has officially started. YHU Rector Suren Harutyunyan announced that students from Armenia, Italy, and other countries would benefit from the program, strengthening international academic ties and cultural exchange. “This program will be implemented by leading Armenian and Italian specialists, both in Yerevan and Teramo. Armenian students will have the opportunity to spend two years studying in Italy and, upon graduation, receive a dual degree,” Harutyunyan stated.
Director of the Institute of Law and International Relations at YHU Liana Malkhasyan emphasized, “Our goal is to create an educational environment fully aligned with European academic and professional standards. In this context, we have been collaborating with the University of Teramo since 2023. We’ve carried out mutual visits, discussions, and jointly developed the program, its teaching methodology, credit system, and study formats. The legal systems of Armenia and Italy both originate from the Romano-Germanic legal family, making the University of Teramo a logical partner for this initiative.”
The official signing ceremony was also attended by the Ambassador of Italy to Armenia Alessandro Ferranti who stressed the importance of creating more opportunities for students to study, gain experience, and travel. According to him, both Italy and Armenia value the role of education and cooperate to build a better society. “We are investing in the future by facilitating the exchange of knowledge and academic experience between students and professors,” the ambassador noted.
Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Teramo Emanuela Pistoia emphasized the importance of this collaboration from the perspective of strengthening the legal field. In her view, under conditions of globalization, it is impossible to remain confined within the framework of only national legal systems: “Sometimes it is very difficult to go beyond local laws and turn that into a strength. We fully understand the challenges, but in today’s world, we cannot allow the situation to remain unchanged. The signing of the memorandum of cooperation between Yerevan Haybusak University and the University of Teramo is an important step in this regard. Let this memorandum become not just a document, but also a symbol of legal dialogue.”
Professor Ignazio Castellucci of the University of Teramo highlighted that Italy and Armenia share many cultural and academic similarities, which played a key role in the decision to cooperate. “We share a common vision of how law faculties should evolve which is one of the pillars of our partnership. In addition, there’s also an emotional component: Italians have a special feeling towards Armenians, a unique ‘wow’ effect that’s hard to explain. The desire to discover new countries also contributed to our decision. From this perspective, the joint program is truly a promising and inspiring initiative for us,” said Professor Castellucci.
Yerevan Haybusak University, the oldest and largest private university in Armenia, is the only higher education institution in the country accredited by European agencies. The university views the challenge of ensuring high-quality education as a crucial long-term investment in the development of Armenia’s human capital.
