Modern, interactive way of learning on standards developed in the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and adapted to the Serbian legal and strategic framework, work on specific cases from practice, as well as mentoring support largely contributed to the satisfaction of students of the Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, who attended the HELP online course on „Combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims“ this spring. This was the second group of Law School students in Serbia who have completed this course and 25 future lawyers have taken the course.
In their evaluation, the course participants expressed great satisfaction that they enriched their professional knowledge with information on this topic, emphasising that they became aware of how low level of information negatively affects the identification and legal protection of victims of human trafficking.
„Considering the gravity of the crime of human trafficking, I think it is essential for lawyers dealing with the protection of human rights but also international law in general to understand the importance of this topic. I also believe that every lawyer should have at least basic knowledge of providing adequate assistance and support for victims of trafficking” – said one of the participants.
The course tutor, Professor Ivana Krstić, emphasised that the students' knowledge of the topic increased significantly during the course, which could be seen through the maturity of the answers to the practical tasks the students were working on. The comments given by the participants on the video materials clearly indicated that during the course, their capacity to notice the most complex problems and to place them in the right context was significantly increased.
The course was organised within the joint EU/Council of Europe programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II - "Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human beings in Serbia", implemented by the Council of Europe, with support of the Council of Europe HELP (Human rights education for legal professionals) Unit.
