Sergey Ghazinyan is a legal expert and human rights professional from Armenia with over a decade of experience in the protection and promotion of human rights, particularly in the areas of trafficking in human beings, asylum and refugee law, and the rights of migrants. He holds a BA in Law and an MA in European Studies from Yerevan State University, and an LL.M. from the American University of Armenia. His PhD thesis in Law focuses on the human rights protection of victims of trafficking in human beings.
Mr Ghazinyan was a member of the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), where he has served since January 2021 to December 2024. In March 2023, he was elected Second Vice-President of GRETA.
As a consultant, he has worked with numerous international and local organizations, including the IOM, UNHCR, UNDP, OSCE, ILO, World Vision, and the Council of Europe. His work involves legal analysis, legislative reviews, and development of policy documents in the field of human rights.
He lectures at Yerevan State University and the American University of Armenia, covering human rights instruments and mechanisms, including those concerning trafficking in persons, asylum, and migration. At the Centre for European Studies at Yerevan State University, he contributes to the integration of human rights topics into academic curricula and specialized training programmes.
Since April 2023, Mr Ghazinyan has been collaborating with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) as a Justice Sector Consultant. In this role, he contributes to the strengthening of the training systems of the Penitentiary and Probation Services in Armenia, develops training modules and materials, and conducts trainings for law enforcement candidates on key human rights topics such as the right to freedom of assembly. His work also includes the development of accessible human rights information tools for persons deprived of liberty.
From 2016 to 2022, Mr Ghazinyan served as an Adviser to the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, where he was responsible for issues related to the rights of trafficking victims, asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants.
Mr Ghazinyan also has extensive experience in capacity building and professional training. He is a Certified Tutor of the Council of Europe’s HELP Programme and regularly delivers trainings for legal professionals and public officials on a broad range of human rights topics.