On 27 January 2020, the Council of Europe HELP course on Key Human Rights Principles in Biomedicine (Bioethics) was launched for a group of 30 lawyers in cooperation with the Italian National Bar Council (Consiglio Nazionale Forense).

Participants were welcomed by Francesca Sorbi, National Councillor and were introduced to the HELP Programme and its online courses.

Fabio Macioce, Full Professor of Legal Theory and Bioethics at Lumsa University of Rome and one of the HELP course authors, presented the main principles and legal instruments in the field of bioethics with a focus on the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (Oviedo Convention).

The work of the Council of Europe Committee on Bioethics (DH-BIO) was presented by its former Italian delegate, Laura Palazzani along with references to the Italian Committee for Bioethics.

The national tutor of the course of Italy, Giovanni Pansini, presented the national version which will be implemented until April 2020. The course is intended to bring the Council of Europe human rights protection system (Oviedo Convention, European Court of Human Rights case law, non-binding legal instruments adopted by DH-BIO) closer to practitioners.

Successful participants will be certified jointly by the Council of Europe and National Bar Council.