The Council of Europe HELP course on Transitional Justice and Human Rights was presented to legal professionals from four Eastern Partnership countries on 17 February 2022.
An international group of 19 judges, prosecutors and lawyers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova will undergo the course covering the basics of transitional justice and international crime, investigation and prosecution, legality, fair trial guarantees, witnesses and victims’ rights.
The group was welcomed by Eva Pastrana, Head of Council of Europe Judicial and Human Rights Training Division, who provided an overview of the HELP Programme, its main trends and other successful HELP courses implemented in the four countries. Ana Medarska-Lazova, Deputy Head of Council of Europe Judicial and Human Rights Training Division, presented the course, highlighting its structure and main aspects. The participants discussed the challenges faced in their professional activity and shared their expectations toward the course.
The course will be tutored by Ivana Roagna, an experienced HELP tutor and author of HELP courses.
Following the completion of the course, the participants are expected to have an increased understanding of the importance of transitional justice in strengthening democracy and the rule of law and the role of the judiciary within the broader transitional justice framework. The participants are also expected to apply that knowledge in their professional practice.
The course will be implemented until the end of March 2022. Successful participants will be certified by the Council of Europe.
This activity was organised under the project “HELP implementing the ECHR in Eastern Partnership countries”, funded by the United Kingdom and implemented by the Council of Europe. The project aims at increasing the knowledge and skills of legal professionals in selected EaP countries on the ECHR and the ECtHR case law.
The HELP course on Transitional Justice (12 hours of e-learning) has the following modules:
- Introduction
- Basics of Transitional Justice
- Basics of International Crime
- Investigations and Prosecution
- Legality
- Fair Trial Guarantees
- Witnesses and Victims
- Victims’ Rights
There is another HELP course complementary to Property Rights (10 hours of e-learning).
Both courses can also be taken as self-learning and are accredited with individualised digital ‘statement of accomplishment’ at the HELP e-learning platform at https://help.elearning.ext.coe.int/
