Back First HELP in the 28 course on Right the Integrity of the Person (bioethics) launched in Poland

The first HELP in the 28 course on Right to the Integrity of the Person (bioethics) was launched in Lublin (Poland), in collaboration with the National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution Service, for a mixed audience of about 25 judges, prosecutors and lawyers.

The launching of the course came timely after the Brussels 'European Seminar on the Right to Personal Integrity, with a focus on the field of biology and medicine' that ended with the conclusion that "safeguarding human rights and promoting progress in biomedicine is an essential synergy".

Following opening remarks of the head of international relations of the School, the session continued with a presentation of the impact of the ECtHR jurisprudence on law application by domestic courts in light of the subsidiarity principle. Then, the HELP focal point and a judge seconded to the Execution of Judgments of the ECtHR, highlighted the role of training as a measure for implementation of the ECtHR’s case law.

A representative of the office of the Government Agent before the ECtHR insisted on the need of nationalisation of the ECHR and spoke about Poland before the ECtHR, describing cases in connection with the course mainly on reproductive health, abortion, and genetic testing. Other concern property rights and ‘lustration’ cases.

The presentation of the European Programme on Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals in the EU ‘HELP in the 28’ was complemented with the presentation by the national tutor of the course on Right to the integrity of the person (bioethics) for Polish participants. Once piloted, the Polish version will be publicly available in early 2017. In the meantime, anyone interested can watch this video presentation in English and enroll in the English version of the course clicking here.

HELP insists on the importance of education to reinforce judges’ individual independence, which is as important as institutional independence - as stressed in the recent Venice Commission’s opinion on the excessive government and parliamentary control over the Constitutional Court functioning in Poland.

Lublin, Poland 17/10/2016

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The HELP PROGRAMME

What is HELP?

The European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) supports the Council of Europe member states in implementing the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) at the national level, in accordance with the Committee of Ministers Recommendation (2004) 4, the 2010 Interlaken Declaration, the 2012 Brighton Declaration and the 2015 Brussels declaration.

This is done by enhancing the capacity of judges, lawyers and prosecutors in all 46 member states to apply the Convention in their daily work. Indeed, legal professionals, who are at the forefront of the protection of human rights, including those of victims, must benefit from high-quality training.

HELP in the EU

The European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals in the European Union member states (HELP in the EU) supports legal professionals to enhance their capacities to effectively and coherently apply European fundamental rights standards at the national level and through cross-border training, mainly referring to the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights (the Charter), the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Social Charter and relevant EU and Council of Europe Law.

Furthermore, the project wishes to strengthen the HELP EU Network and increase mutual trust between EU practicioners.