On 2 March, 50 judges and prosecutors from Lithuania and Italy participated in the cross-border launch of the HELP Course on Ethics for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers.

The event, held at the premises of the National Courts Administration (NCA) in Vilnius, was organised in the framework of the EU-CoE project “HELP in the EU III”, funded under the European Union’s Justice Programme (2021-2027).

Participants were welcomed by Natalija Kaminskienė, Director of National Courts Administration (DCA) of Lithuania and Antonella Ciriello, Judge member of the Scuola Superiore della Magistratura (SSM) Executive Board.

Participants were introduced to the Council of Europe's Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) programme and its e-learning platform. A special focus was given to the HELP course on ethics for judges, prosecutors and lawyers, with a presentation of its structure and learning objectives.

During the launching event, participants benefited from various thematic panel presentations:

Eli Hristova, Member of the Supreme Bar Council of Bulgarian, broadened the perspective of ethical reflection by presenting the current ethical challenges in the relationship between lawyers and judges.

Sigita Jokimaite, Judge of the Supreme Court of Lithuania, Head of the Ethics and Discipline Commission of Judges, gave a speech on the importance of ethics for the maintenance of independence and impartiality of the judiciary, with practical examples of ethical issues involving Lithuanian and European judges.

Raffaele Sabato, Italian Judge to the European Court of Human Rights, gave a lecture on the importance of ethics in preserving the rule of law and engaged in a lively discussion with the audience.

A comparative overview of the Code of Conduct for Judges and Prosecutors of the two participating countries was provided by the course tutors, namely Chiara Salamone for Italian judges and prosecutors and Marius Bartninkas for Lithuanian judges.

At the end of the launch, participants had the opportunity to share their expectations and familiarise themselves with the course implementation in a dedicated session with tutors.

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The HELP online course on Ethics for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers was developed in 2020-2021 under the EU-CoE "HELP in the EU II" project in cooperation with several Council of Europe entities/services, such as the Secretariats of the Venice Commission, the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), the Consultative Councils of the European Judges and Prosecutors (CCJE and CCPE) and the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights. Representatives of the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN) and the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) also took part in the development of the course.

The course offers a comprehensive curriculum which covers in an interactive way the key concept and principles, the International and European (CoE and EU) framework as well as the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). It has then distinctive modules on Ethics for judges, prosecutors and lawyers. Read Course Brief here. .

The online course is available on the Council of Europe HELP e-learning platform, in self-learning format, in 14 languages. It takes 9 hours to complete and participants who finalise the course can generate an electronic Statement of Accomplishment.