On 4-7 December 2023 in Budapest, thirty-one judges and prosecutors from the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) took part in a three-day training of mentors on women’s access to justice. The training session is a component of a year-long innovative and unique Mentoring Programme for legal professionals aimed at enhancing the continuous learning of judges and prosecutors on guaranteeing equal access to justice for women and men in the Western Balkans and ensuring a gender sensitive justice chain.
The course, organised by the Council of Europe in the framework of the joint European Union and Council of Europe regional action “Women’s access to justice in the Western Balkans”, made participants conversant with the mentoring methodology and key concepts on women’s access to justice, and increased their knowledge to apply Council of Europe human rights standards in a gender responsive manner. Participants discussed challenges and opportunities to encourage legal professionals to put on gender glasses in their daily work in the justice sector.
A former participant in the training course underlined that “our attitudes in the court to our citizens, women mainly, could help with ensuring full protection of human rights for all”.
On the margin of the training of mentors, all partners of the regional action met for a Steering Committee meeting to approve the 2024 workplan of activities that address the challenges and barriers women in the Western Balkans face when accessing justice.
The meeting emphasised that “in the Western Balkans, the partnership and synergy between Council of Europe and the European Union really comes to the fore, with both organisations bound by the same common values and which we continue to promote every day such as with this joint programme on women’s access to justice.”
The training of mentors was held in the framework of the European Union and the Council of Europe joint programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe. It builds on practical resources for legal professionals developed under previous Council of Europe initiatives on the topic of strengthening women’s access to justice.
* All reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.
