Speech of Mrs Maud de Boer-Buquicchio
Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Award ceremony of the pro merito medal to the
Stichting Studiecentrum Rechtspleging (SSR) – the Netherlands
(Strasbourg, 21 March 2011)

Dear Ms Director, dear colleagues and guests,

This year marks the 25th anniversary visit of the “Stichting Studiecentrum Rechtspleging” to Strasbourg.

For a quarter of a century, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights have been hosting study visits organised by the Stichting Studierechtspleging (SSR). The Stichting Studierechtspleging was the first, and until last year the only, national school of magistrates to do so. For 25 years the study visits have contributed to enhancing the visibility of the Council of Europe and the Court among judges and prosecutors from the Netherlands and through them, among the judiciary in general.
The Council of Europe reflected on how it could celebrate this anniversary, and perhaps encourage other national institutions to pay the same attention to our Organisation. The award of the pro merito medal, sponsored by Mr Philippe Boillat, the Director General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs, represented today by Ms Marja Ruotanen, the Director of Co-operation, appeared to be the most appropriate and legitimate form of distinction to mark in a formal manner the co-operation of our two institutions. Such a medal was awarded to Judge Myjer, co-ordinator of the study visits until 2004, and this time it is awarded to the institution itself.

This medal was created to honour a person or an institution for the services rendered to the Council of Europe.

It also represents a recognition of the exceptional work achieved in the promotion of the values defended by the Organisation.

The Stichting Studiecentrum Rechtspleging fulfils both these criteria.

By integrating the study visits to the Council of Europe in its training programmes for judges and prosecutors, the Stichting Studiecentrum Rechtspleging has allowed a large number of Dutch judges and prosecutors to gain first-hand knowledge of the standards, monitoring and co-operation undertaken as regards the rule of the law, the promotion of human rights and the enhancement of the European Convention on Human Rights. And this, long before recommendations on training of legal professionals were adopted by the Committee of Ministers. This has certainly contributed to enhancing the skills of several generations of Dutch judges and prosecutors to implement the European Convention on Human Rights in national proceedings.

By organising an annual placement of a trainee judge within the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights at its own cost, the Stichting Studiecentrum Rechtspleging has also rendered a tremendous service to the Council of Europe.

Ladies and Gentlemen, dear guests,

I mentioned earlier that the example of the Stichting Studiecentrum Rechtspleging should be followed by other member states’ institutions. The training of judges on the Convention remains after all first and foremost the responsibility of the member states. Having said that, the Council of Europe is providing valuable support and expertise in this field, notably by making available training tools and materials, curricula, pedagogical guidelines, case law translations, e-learning courses and so on. The European Programme of Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals, the so-called HELP Programme, is the main axis of such a training resources being developed and made available by the Council of Europe.
One of the things we have learnt from the extensive work carried out in the field of professional training is that the peer-to-peer dimension is very important. I am therefore pleased to note that next week a study visit will be held at the Netherlands Council for the Judiciary in Den Haag for a group of ten Armenian court administrators in the framework of a Project on Access to Justice which the Council of Europe is implementing in Armenia. I encourage the Stichting Studiecentrum Rechtspleging to do the same and to invite similar institutions to share its valuable expertise.

Ladies and Gentlemen, dear guests,

25 years is a long time. The continued commitment by the Stichting Studiecentrum Rechtspleging to human rights, to European co-operation and to professional excellence deserves recognition, and I am pleased to hereby present to the Director, Ms Rosa Jansen, the Council of Europe Pro Merito Medal.

Thank you.