During an in-person event organised in Podgorica on 16 October, a recently updated HELP course Prohibition of Ill-treatment was launched to close 80 legal professionals, judges, prosecutors, lawyers and civil servants working at the Office of Ombudsman and the Office of the Government Agent of Montenegro at the European Court of Human Rights.

The participants were welcomed by Ljiljana LAKIC, the Head of the Executive Board of the Centre for Education of Judges and Prosecutors in Montenegro, Marina RADULOVIC, HELP Focal Point and Jasminka PERUNICIC ALLEN, Senior Project Officer, Council of Europe. The participants were introduced to the course by HELP certified tutors Sinisa BJEKOVIC, Ombudsman in Montenegro and Jelena RUZICIC, a judge of the Administrative Court.

The HELP course Prohibition of Ill treatment is a priority course for the HRTF funded project “HELP in the Western Balkans”. HELP online courses have already been recognised as an effective tool in terms of general measures for the execution of the ECtHR judgments. By increasing the capacities of domestic legal professionals to directly apply the ECHR, the project HELP in the Western Balkans aims to contribute to: decreasing the number of cases arriving before the ECHR and increasing the number of closed cases by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, subject to the supervision of the execution of the ECtHR's judgments.

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This free HELP online course aims at assisting legal professionals in the Council of Europe member States in effectively applying the standards concerning the prohibition of ill-treatment. The topics are explored in a practical way, by using presentations, interactive screens, knowledge tests and reflective exercises. Throughout the course, there are interactive case-studies, which will enable the users to apply the gained knowledge and skills.

The course was initially developed in 2017 by the Council of Europe Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) Programme. It has been updated in 2023 with financial support of the European Union and the Council of Europe. The content has been restructured and enriched with a new module on prohibition of ill-treatment in times of conflict, to address the specificities related to these situations.

The course benefitted from the contributions of a senior lawyer from the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights, as well as representatives of the Co-operation Programmes Division within the CoE Department of Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Co-operation Standards.