Within the scope of the Joint Project "Reinforcing Judicial Expertise on Freedom of Expression and the Media in South-East Europe (JUFREX)" , co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe, a training course on freedom of expression for lawyers, in the form of a moot court simulation, was co-organised by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Macedonian Young Lawyers’ Association on 17 November 2018 in Skopje.

The activity was attended by 8 attorneys at law, selected from among the most active participants at previous JUFREX trainings, with the aim to assess and enhance their knowledge on matters related to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as their skills in litigating before the European Court of Human Rights. The participants had previously been divided into two groups of 4 attorneys, had received a hypothetical case related to Article 10 of the ECHR and had been given one month to prepare formal applications before the ECtHR based on the facts of the case. Following presentations of the written submission, both groups had an opportunity to further argue the case, notably taking in account: recognition of legal issues raised by the moot problem; application of law to the facts of the moot problem; analysis of the moot court problem and grounds of appeal; ability to summarize facts, cases or law where appropriate.

The activity was facilitated by an international consultant and former judge at the ECtHR, Mrs. Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska, who was acting as a moot court judge.

The views expressed therein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.