The Council of Europe HELP online course on Data Protection and Privacy Rights was launched online for close to 50 legal professionals from Bosnia and Herzegovina in cooperation with the Centre for Judicial and Prosecutorial Training of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Centre for Judicial and Prosecutorial Training of Republika Srpska.

During the launching event, supported by EU and Council of Europe action “Help in the Western Balkans”, the participants were welcomed by Arben Murtezić, Director of the Centre for Judicial and Prosecutorial Training of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tomislav Čavić, Director of the Centre for Judicial and Prosecutorial Training of Republika Srpska and Jasminka Peruničić Allen, Senior Project Officer of HELP in the Western Balkans action.

Ana Medarska Lazova, Deputy Head of Justice and Human Rights Training Division, Council of Europe, shared an overview of the Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) Programme of the Council of Europe and its online platform that includes a catalogue of 40 courses on human rights, including the specific course on ‘Data Protection and Privacy Rights’ contextualised for legal professionals from Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the support of the EU and Council of Europe Horizontal Facility II Programme. The course was further presented by the tutor Muhamed Mujakić, expert in the field, and participants were briefly familiarised with the technical aspects of how to join the HELP online platform and the courses available there.

The Council of Europe HELP course on Data Protection and Privacy Rights offers a comprehensive curriculum which covers in an interactive way the key concepts, the legal framework of the Council of Europe and the EU as well as the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). One of the key reference materials to develop this course has been the Handbook on Data Protection[BB1] developed jointly by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency and the CoE together with the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights. The course presents the CoE Modernized Convention 108 and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The model course in English was last updated in 2019, under the EU funded project "HELP in the EU".[BB2]

This event was organised under the HELP in the Western Balkans action, part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.