Mgr. Hovsep Kocharyan, Ph.D.

@upol.cz

Faculty of Law; Department of International and European Law
Palacky University Olomouc

Mgr. Hovsep Kocharyan, Ph.D.


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https://researchid.co/hovsepkocharyan
Mgr. Hovsep Kocharyan, Ph.D., is a legal scholar affiliated with Palacký University Olomouc, where he specializes in International and European Union law, with a particular focus on EU digital law. His research explores some of the most pressing challenges at the intersection of technology and human rights, including the protection of the right to be forgotten, Internet access, informational self-determination, digital sovereignty, digital identity, and the digital integrity of the individual within the EU legal framework.
Dr. Kocharyan is the author and co-author of numerous academic publications indexed in WoS and Scopus, as well as book chapters, research blogs, and other scholarly contributions addressing contemporary legal issues in the digital sphere. His academic work is enriched by international research experience across leading European institutions in the Netherlands, Oslo, Geneva, Zurich, and Brussels.
Throughout his career, he has served both as a principal investigator an
18

Scopus Publications

164

Scholar Citations

8

Scholar h-index

6

Scholar i10-index

Scopus Publications

  • Balancing monopolisation and innovation in the esports industry: searching for aurea mediocritas between public and private interests in intellectual property rights
    Lusine Vardanyan, Hovsep Kocharyan, Ondrej Hamuľák, Tomáš Gábriš, Pablo Martínez-Ramil
    Law Innovation and Technology, 2026
  • FROM CELLS TO CODES: THE LEGAL TRANSFORMATION OF DIGITAL IDENTITY, INTEGRITY, AND SELF-DETERMINATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE
    Ondrej Hamuľák, Lusine Vardanyan, Hovsep Kocharyan
    Acta Universitatis Lodziensis Folia Iuridica, 2025
    This article examines the evolving relationship between the human body and digital data, particularly in light of technological advancements that blur the distinction between physical and digital identities. The research explores the implications of this transformation for legal frameworks, questioning whether current data protection laws sufficiently safeguard personal integrity and identity in the digital age. This study emphasises the limitations of existing regulations, which primarily focus on personal data rather than the broader concept of individual identity. A central argument is that the right to informational self-determination discussed in the scientific literature and recognized in German legal practice should play a critical role in ensuring autonomy and personal identity protection. The discussion also highlights the necessity of developing more effective legal mechanisms to safeguard digital identities against technological vulnerabilities, unauthorised profiling, and market-driven commodification of personal data. This study ultimately calls for a reconsideration of legal concepts such as bodily integrity, informational self-determination, and digital sovereignty, advocating for a more comprehensive legal approach to the protection of individuals in the digital sphere. This document argues that the existing legal framework inadequately protects new forms of identity in the digital environment, especially with regard to information self-determination and digital embodiment. By exploring the changing boundaries of the human body in technological and digital contexts, this article aims to promote clearer recognition of digital identity rights within legal systems.
  • E-democracy and Internet Access in EU Law: Strengthening Democratic Participation in the Digital Age
    Hovsep Kocharyan, Ondrej Hamuľák, Lusine Vardanyan
    International and Comparative Law Review, 2024
    Summary Nowadays Internet technologies are developing so much that they cover new social relations. Human life is undergoing rapid digitalisation, which inevitably leaves an imprint on the protection of fundamental rights. Political life is no exception either. Today the legal experience shows that the European states are already offering various effective mechanisms and solutions to strengthen their democratic principles, which are based precisely on Internet technologies, in which the concept of e-democracy (“electronic democracy”) is increasingly becoming an urgent topic of research. In this research, the authors will analyse on how the Internet access can ensure a dialogue between citizens and the government, as well as strengthen the EU’s democratic principles in the digital world. Moreover, the authors will also focus on the law enforcement experience of different European states in order to bring out their positive aspects that can become effective guidelines for building an appropriate mechanism for the participation of EU citizens in political life through Internet technologies.
  • Esports between the Sports and Entertainment Industry: In Search of Division Lines
    Tomáš Gábriš, Ondrej Hamuľák, Hovsep Kocharyan, Pablo Martínez Ramil
    Taltech Journal of European Studies, 2024
    The growing popularity and expansion of esports have prompted an academic and legal debate, where its classification as either a sport or a form of entertainment remains unclear. This article explores the dual nature of esports, providing an overview of the legal and regulatory challenges it presents. It opens the discussion by addressing the space occupied by esports, distinguishing it from the traditional understanding of analogue sports while introducing the role of various stakeholders. The article then delves into the legal discussion taking place at the EU level, exploring also how the national legal reality of some Member States approach esports. The study highlights the urgency of finding a balanced approach that recognises esports as a hybrid entity, necessitating a regulatory model that draws from both sports law and entertainment law. Furthermore, the article complements the analysis by addressing emerging normative systems within esports, including autonomous governance structures and the potential need for state intervention to address issues such as doping, match-fixing, and the protection of minors. By analysing the existing legal frameworks in non-EU countries, particularly in Asia and North America, the authors suggest that esports needs to be approached as a new type of sport—a perspective that should be reflected in future EU regulations.
  • Personal Autonomy and Human Corporeality: What Protects the Right to Personal Integrity?
    Lusine Vardanyan, Ondrej Hamuľák, Hovsep Kocharyan
    Internet of Things Netherlands, 2024
  • Fragmented Identities: Legal Challenges of Digital Identity, Integrity, and Informational Self-Determination
    Lusine Vardanyan, Ondrej Hamuľák, Hovsep Kocharyan
    European Studies the Review of European Law Economics and Politics, 2024
    Summary Informational self-determination is a crucial legal principle that grants individuals greater control over their digital existence. This paper examines the complexities of digital identity and the legal challenges it presents. Digital identity blends objective elements, such as official documentation, with subjective aspects like personal and cultural affiliations. The increasing overlap between physical and digital identities raises legal and ethical concerns regarding identity protection, consent, and anonymity. The fragmentation of digital identity, risks of identity theft, and the expansion of digital profiling highlight the need for stronger legal mechanisms. While existing laws like the GDPR offer some protection, a broader legal framework is required to recognise identity as a fundamental right. The right to be forgotten and control over one’s digital self-representation are essential for personal autonomy. The study underscores how digital identity is increasingly shaped by third parties, leading to vulnerabilities that threaten fundamental rights. Expanding current privacy laws through the doctrine of informational self-determination is crucial for safeguarding identity in the evolving technological landscape.
  • Legal Framework for digital therapeutics (DTx) in the European Union
    Kätlin Joala, Tanel Kerikmäe, Ondrej Hamuľák, Hovsep Kocharyan
    European Studies the Review of European Law Economics and Politics, 2023
    Summary This paper examines the origins and limitations of EU medical device law. The main questions asked are whether EU medical device law defines the concept of medical purpose for software, whether the concept of medical purpose is understood as a medical service defined by national law, and whether it requires the involvement of medical professionals as users. Particular attention is paid to the aspect of Recital 8 of the Regulation (EU) 2017/745 on medical devices (MDR), alongside the general internal provisions of EU law and its sector-specific subsidiarity provisions. In practice, Member States have taken different legal approaches to address DTx-related challenges, creating legal uncertainty within the EU as to which DTx should be defined as a medical device.
  • THE UNWANTED PARADOXES OF THE RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN
    Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology, 2023
  • Digital Sovereignty in the EU: Searching for Legal Mechanisms for Marking the Borders
    Lusine Vardanyan, Hovsep Kocharyan, Ondrej Hamuľák, Tanel Kerikmäe
    Digital Development of the European Union an Interdisciplinary Perspective, 2023
  • Critical views on the phenomenon of EU digital sovereignty through the prism of global data governance reality: Main obstacles and challenges
    Lusine Vardanyan, Hovsep Kocharyan
    European Studies the Review of European Law Economics and Politics, 2022
    Summary This article is devoted to determining the role and place of the EU in the international information space, as well as identifying problematic aspects and existing challenges that the EU faces in implementing its digital strategy in the field of data governance and protection. In the context of the growing influence of such key political figures as, for example, the USA and China, which have dominant influence on the digital economy, the issue of proper ensuring the digital sovereignty of the EU in the field of global data governance comes to the fore. This is due to the fact that it is the digital sovereignty that should guarantee the strategic autonomy of the EU in the digital world in the context of the EU’s increasing dependence on foreign technologies and services and a shortage of investments in the digital sector. In this research, the authors focus on the need to develop and use a model of multilateral participation in the field of data governance and protection in the digital world, which, in turn, implies prevention of weakening the role of the state in regulating the digital market, since it is the states (including the EU) that are the primary guarantors of human rights protection in the digital world.
  • "The Right to be Remembered?": The Contemporary Challenges of the "streisand Effect" in the European Judicial Reality
    Hovsep Kocharyan, Ondrej Hamuľák, Lusine Vardanyan
    International and Comparative Law Review, 2022
  • The GDPR and the DGA Proposal: are They in Controversial Relationship?
    Lusine Vardanyan, Hovsep Kocharyan
    European Studies the Review of European Law Economics and Politics, 2022
  • Digital Integrity: A Foundation for Digital Rights and the New Manifestation of Human Dignity
    Lusine Vardanyan, Václav Stehlík, Hovsep Kocharyan
    Taltech Journal of European Studies, 2022
  • Critical Views on the Right to Be Forgotten after the Entry into Force of the GDPR: Is it Able to Effectively Ensure Our Privacy?
    Hovsep Kocharyan, Lusine Vardanyan, Ondrej Hamuľák, Tanel Kerikmäe
    International and Comparative Law Review, 2021
  • “This content is not available in your country” a general summary on geo-blocking in and outside the European Union1
    Ondrej Hamuľák, Lilla Nóra Kiss, Tomáš Gábriš, Hovsep Kocharyan
    International and Comparative Law Review, 2021
  • THE GLOBAL REACH OF THE RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN THROUGH THE LENSES OF THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
    Czech Yearbook of Public and Private International Law, 2021
  • Legal person- or agenthood of artificial intelligence technologies
    Tanel Kerikmäe, Peeter Müürsepp, Henri Mart Pihl, Ondrej Ondrej Hamuľák, Hovsep Kocharyan, et al.
    Acta Baltica Historiae Et Philosophiae Scientiarum, 2020
  • The contemporary issues of post-mortem personal data protection in the eu after gdpr entering into force
    Czech Yearbook of Public and Private International Law, 2020

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Balancing monopolisation and innovation in the esports industry: searching for a urea mediocritas between public and private interests in intellectual property rights
    L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan, O Hamuľák, T Gábriš, P Martínez-Ramil
    Law, Innovation and Technology, 1-45 , 2026
    2026
  • From Cells to Codes: The Legal Transformation of Digital Identity, Integrity, and Self-Determination in the Digital Age
    O Hamuľák, L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan
    Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Iuridica 113, 105-136 , 2025
    2025
  • E-democracy and Internet Access in EU Law: Strengthening Democratic Participation in the Digital Age.
    H Kocharyan, O Hamuľák, L Vardanyan
    International & Comparative Law Review/Mezinárodní a Srovnávací Právní Revue … , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 1
  • Esports between the Sports and Entertainment Industry: In Search of Division Lines.
    T Gábriš, O Hamuľák, H Kocharyan, PM Ramil
    TalTech Journal of European Studies 14 (2) , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 5
  • Personal autonomy and human corporeality: what protects the right to personal integrity?
    L Vardanyan, O Hamuľák, H Kocharyan
    Internet of Things 27, 101279 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 6
  • DEVELOPNENT OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF ELECTROCHEMICAL POLISHING OF THE ST 20 GRADE STEEL
    HN KOCHARYAN, NR HOVHANNISYAN
    PROCEEDINGS OF NATIONAL POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF ARMENIA. CHEMICAL AND … , 2024
    2024
  • Fragmented Identities: Legal Challenges of Digital Identity, Integrity, and Informational Self-Determination
    L Vardanyan, O Hamuľák, H Kocharyan
    European Studies–the Review of European law, Economics and Politics 11 (1 … , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 5
  • The Right to Internet Acces: A New Fundamental Right or a New „Platform “for Fundamental Rights
    L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan, O Hamuľák
    Legal Issues of Digitalisation, Robotization and Cyber Security in the Light … , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 2
  • The Unwanted Paradoxes Of the Right to Be Forgotten
    L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan, O Hamulák, M Mesarčík, T Kerikmäe, ...
    Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology 17 (1), 87-109 , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 10
  • Digital sovereignty in the EU: Searching for legal mechanisms for marking the borders
    L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan, O Hamuľák, T Kerikmäe
    Digital development of the European Union: An interdisciplinary perspective … , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 5
  • Legal Framework for digital therapeutics (DTx) in the European Union
    K Joala, T Kerikmäe, O Hamuľák, H KOCHARY-AN
    European Studies–the Review of European law, Economics and Politics 10 (2 … , 2023
    2023
  • " The Right to be Remembered?": The Contemporary Challenges of the" Streisand Effect" in the European Judicial Reality.
    H Kocharyan, O Hamuľák, L Vardanyan
    International & Comparative Law Review/Mezinárodní a Srovnávací Právní Revue … , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 3
  • Digital integrity: a foundation for digital rights and the new manifestation of human dignity
    L Vardanyan, V Stehlík, H Kocharyan
    TalTech Journal of European Studies 12 (1), 159-185 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 24
  • The right to data protection in the light of personality rights: does it prevent the emergence of data ownership?
    L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan
    Journal of Ethics and Legal Technologies 4 (JELT-Volume 4 Issue 1), 105-120 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 2
  • Critical views on the phenomenon of EU digital sovereignty through the prism of global data governance reality: main obstacles and challenges
    L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan
    European Studies–The Review of European Law, Economics and Politics 9 (2 … , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 9
  • The GDPR and the DGA proposal: Are they in controversial relationship?
    L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan
    European Studies–The Review of European Law, Economics and Politics 9 (1 … , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 14
  • Critical views on the right to be forgotten after the entry into force of the GDPR: Is it able to effectively ensure our privacy?
    H Kocharyan, L Vardanyan, O Hamuľák, T Kerikmäe
    International & Comparative Law Review/Mezinárodní a Srovnávací Právní Revue … , 2021
    2021
    Citations: 21
  • 'This Content Is not Available in Your Country'a General Summary on Geo-Blocking in and outside the European Union
    O Hamuľák, LN Kiss, T Gábriš
    International and Comparative Law Review 21 (1), 153-183 , 2021
    2021
    Citations: 19
  • The Global Reach of the Right to be Forgotten through the Lenses of the Court of Justice of the European Union
    O Hamuľák, L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan
    Czech Yearbook of Public and Private International Law 12 (1), 126-141 , 2021
    2021
    Citations: 7
  • Legal Person-or Agenthood of Artificial Intelligence Technologies.
    T Kerikmäe, P Müürsepp, HM Pihl, O Hamuľák, H Kocharyan
    Acta Baltica Historiae et Philosophiae Scientiarum 8 (2) , 2020
    2020
    Citations: 22

MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Digital integrity: a foundation for digital rights and the new manifestation of human dignity
    L Vardanyan, V Stehlík, H Kocharyan
    TalTech Journal of European Studies 12 (1), 159-185 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 24
  • Legal Person-or Agenthood of Artificial Intelligence Technologies.
    T Kerikmäe, P Müürsepp, HM Pihl, O Hamuľák, H Kocharyan
    Acta Baltica Historiae et Philosophiae Scientiarum 8 (2) , 2020
    2020
    Citations: 22
  • Critical views on the right to be forgotten after the entry into force of the GDPR: Is it able to effectively ensure our privacy?
    H Kocharyan, L Vardanyan, O Hamuľák, T Kerikmäe
    International & Comparative Law Review/Mezinárodní a Srovnávací Právní Revue … , 2021
    2021
    Citations: 21
  • 'This Content Is not Available in Your Country'a General Summary on Geo-Blocking in and outside the European Union
    O Hamuľák, LN Kiss, T Gábriš
    International and Comparative Law Review 21 (1), 153-183 , 2021
    2021
    Citations: 19
  • The GDPR and the DGA proposal: Are they in controversial relationship?
    L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan
    European Studies–The Review of European Law, Economics and Politics 9 (1 … , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 14
  • The Unwanted Paradoxes Of the Right to Be Forgotten
    L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan, O Hamulák, M Mesarčík, T Kerikmäe, ...
    Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology 17 (1), 87-109 , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 10
  • Critical views on the phenomenon of EU digital sovereignty through the prism of global data governance reality: main obstacles and challenges
    L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan
    European Studies–The Review of European Law, Economics and Politics 9 (2 … , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 9
  • The contemporary issues of post-mortem personal data protection in the EU after GDPR entering into force
    O Hamuľák, H Kocharyan, T Kerikmäe
    Czech Yearbook of Public & Private International Law 11, 225-238 , 2020
    2020
    Citations: 8
  • The Global Reach of the Right to be Forgotten through the Lenses of the Court of Justice of the European Union
    O Hamuľák, L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan
    Czech Yearbook of Public and Private International Law 12 (1), 126-141 , 2021
    2021
    Citations: 7
  • Personal autonomy and human corporeality: what protects the right to personal integrity?
    L Vardanyan, O Hamuľák, H Kocharyan
    Internet of Things 27, 101279 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 6
  • Esports between the Sports and Entertainment Industry: In Search of Division Lines.
    T Gábriš, O Hamuľák, H Kocharyan, PM Ramil
    TalTech Journal of European Studies 14 (2) , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 5
  • Fragmented Identities: Legal Challenges of Digital Identity, Integrity, and Informational Self-Determination
    L Vardanyan, O Hamuľák, H Kocharyan
    European Studies–the Review of European law, Economics and Politics 11 (1 … , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 5
  • Digital sovereignty in the EU: Searching for legal mechanisms for marking the borders
    L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan, O Hamuľák, T Kerikmäe
    Digital development of the European Union: An interdisciplinary perspective … , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 5
  • " The Right to be Remembered?": The Contemporary Challenges of the" Streisand Effect" in the European Judicial Reality.
    H Kocharyan, O Hamuľák, L Vardanyan
    International & Comparative Law Review/Mezinárodní a Srovnávací Právní Revue … , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 3
  • The Right to Internet Acces: A New Fundamental Right or a New „Platform “for Fundamental Rights
    L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan, O Hamuľák
    Legal Issues of Digitalisation, Robotization and Cyber Security in the Light … , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 2
  • The right to data protection in the light of personality rights: does it prevent the emergence of data ownership?
    L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan
    Journal of Ethics and Legal Technologies 4 (JELT-Volume 4 Issue 1), 105-120 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 2
  • E-democracy and Internet Access in EU Law: Strengthening Democratic Participation in the Digital Age.
    H Kocharyan, O Hamuľák, L Vardanyan
    International & Comparative Law Review/Mezinárodní a Srovnávací Právní Revue … , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 1
  • COAL LIQUEFACTION TECHNOLOGY FOR OBTAINING LIQUID FUEL FROM KARABAKH LIGNITE-2
    GH Torosyan, ZS Hakobyan, HN Kocharyan, AA Isakov
    VI Международная научная конференция" Химическая термодинамика и кинетика … , 2016
    2016
    Citations: 1
  • Balancing monopolisation and innovation in the esports industry: searching for a urea mediocritas between public and private interests in intellectual property rights
    L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan, O Hamuľák, T Gábriš, P Martínez-Ramil
    Law, Innovation and Technology, 1-45 , 2026
    2026
  • From Cells to Codes: The Legal Transformation of Digital Identity, Integrity, and Self-Determination in the Digital Age
    O Hamuľák, L Vardanyan, H Kocharyan
    Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Iuridica 113, 105-136 , 2025
    2025