More than 80 Croatian lawyers will benefit from two online courses of the Council of Europe HELP Programme (Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals) launched in co-operation with the Croatian Bar Association.

HELP course on Introduction to the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights

On 14 October 2021, the HELP course on Introduction to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) was launched for more than 40 Croatian lawyers, with an online launching event. This version of the course also includes a full module on the execution of the judgments of the ECtHR.

The group of participants was welcomed by Davor Bubalo, member of the Management Board of the Croatian Bar and member of the Bar’ Lawyers' Academy, and Eva Pastrana, Head of Justice and Human Rights Training Division, Council of Europe.

Course participants could benefit from an intervention of Judge Ksenija Turkovic, Vice-President of the European Court of Human Rights, who spoke about the European Convention on Human Rights and its position on the national legal system. The HELP course tutor, Morana Briski, senior advisor at the Supreme Court of Croatia, presented the process of execution of the judgments of the ECtHR at the national level.

HELP course on Procedural safeguards in criminal proceedings and victims’ rights

On 15 October 2021, an online launching event gathered a group of Croatian lawyers, participants of the HELP tutored course on Procedural safeguards in criminal proceedings and victims’ rights.

The launch event was opened by Laura Valkovic, President of the Lawyers’ Academy of the Croatian Bar Association and Member of the Bar’s Management Board, and by Eva Pastrana, Head of Justice and Human Rights Training Division, Council of Europe.

The HELP course tutor, Natasa Belamaric, advisor at the Croatian Constitutional Court, presented to the participants the most frequent issues arising before the ECtHR under Article 6 of the ECHR in its criminal limb.

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Both courses will be implemented until the end of 2021. Successful participants will receive HELP certificates issued in cooperation with the Croatian Bar Association, HELP’s national partner in the organisation of these courses’ launch and implementation.

Both courses are available in English also for autonomous, self-learning on the HELP online platform. The HELP course in Introduction to the ECHR and the ECtHR is also available for self-learning in Croatian, and the course on Procedural safeguards in criminal proceedings and victims’ rights will also become available in the upcoming months. Once any of the self-learning courses are completed, a user can generate and print out the so-called HELP ‘statement of accomplishment.’