Today, the Matenadaran hosted the concluding session summarizing the results of the International Conference entitled “Medieval Roots of Modern Law: Mxit'ar Gosh's Lawcode in the World Memory”, which launched on October 29, 2025.

Within the two-day conference organized jointly by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Matenadaran, the panel discussions featured presentations by Victoria Buttigieg, Attorney General of the Republic of Malta; Peter Cowe, Narekatsi Chair of Armenian Studies, UCLA; Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev, Lecturer, Sofia University;  researchers of the Matenadaran Gurgen Gasparyan, Donara Karapetyan, Garnik Harutyunyan and Narine Vardanyan; as well as Azat Bozoyan, a representative of the Institute of Oriental Studies of National Academy of Sciences of Armenia and Zohrab Gevorgyan, a representative of the Institute of History of National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.

The topics of the presentations were:

• Medieval Codifications to Modern Legal Memory: Reflections on Mxit’ar Gosh, Malta and Western Europe
• The Place of Gosh’s “Girk Datastani” in the Evolution of Armenian Law
• Dawit’ of Gandzak (ca 1065–1140) and Mkhit’ar Gosh (ca 1135–1213): Codification as a Reaction to Religious Change in the Middle Kur Valley
• Medical Law in Mkhitar Gosh’s “Lawcode”
• The Byzantine “Military Constitution” and Mkhitar Gosh
• Mxit‘ar Gosh’s Legal ‘Microcosm’: Everyday Life in the Lawcode
• The “microworld” of Mkhitar Gosh’s laws: the everyday life in the “Lawcode”
• The Matenadaran and the Literary Heritage of Mkhitar Gosh
• Original and Translated Canons of the Fifth to Eighth Centuries in the “Armenian Book of Canons”
• “Armenian Book of Canons” (Kanonagirk‘ Hayots‘): A “Mirror” of Historical Political and Social Economic Relations.

Ara Khzmalyan, Director of the Matenadaran, stated: “For the internationalization of Armenian studies, one should not limit oneself to purely Armenian scholarly circles, but engage all institutions and individuals who can contribute to the global recognition of our values. Our cooperation with the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Armenia is one of the best examples of this. It was hard to imagine, for instance, that the Prosecutor General of Malta would participate for two full days in the scholarly discussion of Mxit‘ar Gosh’s literary heritage.

It should be reminded that on April 10, at the request of the Matenadaran, within the framework of the 221^st session of the UNESCO Executive Board, by a unanimous decision of the member states, the “Lawcode (Datastanagirk, Armenian Lawcode)” by the great 12th-century Armenian thinker, scientist, legislator, fabulist and educator Mkhitar Gosh was registered in the Memory of the World Register.

The International Conference was attended by Alen Simonyan, the President of the National Assembly of Armenia; Anna Vardapetyan, Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia; Anahit Manasyan, Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia; Artur Nahapetyan, Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee; Ara Khzmalyan, Director of the Matenadaran; Victoria Buttigieg, Attorney General of the Republic of Malta; representatives of the executive and judicial authorities; Peter Cowe, Narekatsi Chair of Armenian Studies, UCLA; Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev, Lecturer, Sofia University; researchers of the Matenadaran; senior officials of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Armenia; representatives of international organizations; the scientific community and others.

At the invitation of the Prosecutor General of Armenia, participants of the international conference at the Matenadaran enjoyed piano performances by Honored Artist Hayk Melikyan, during which the composition “Datastan” by composer Ellen Yolchyan — written for piano, reader, and electroacoustic sounds — was performed for the first time.

Honored Artist Hayk Melikyan and composer Ellen Yolchyan were awarded letters of appreciation by the Prosecutor General of Armenia.

It should be recalled that, within the framework of the International Conference organized jointly by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Matenadaran, the oldest known manuscript of Mxit‘ar Gosh’s “Lawcode” was brought from the Armenian Patriarchal Congregation of Bzommar (Lebanon) to the Matenadaran. This exceptional exhibit will be presented at the Matenadaran for only one week.