The Council of Europe HELP course on Procedural Safeguards in Criminal proceedings and Victims’ Rights was launched in three online seminars gathering judges, prosecutors and court staff from Bulgaria, Czechia and Romania respectively. The online sessions were held on 23-25 June 2020 and they were organised by the European Union and the Council of Europe funded "HELP in the EU Phase II" project.

The participants got familiarised with the Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) Programme of the Council of Europe and its online platform that includes a catalogue of 35 courses on human rights. 

These online launches were organised in cooperation with HELP’s national partners: the Bulgarian National Institute of Justice, the Czech Justice Academy and the Romanian National Institute of Magistrature. 

Ana-Maria Telbis, coordinator of the European Union and the Council of Europe Project “HELP in the EU II”, presented the HELP Programme and the European Union funded Project and introduced the participants to the HELP online platform and the course Procedural Safeguards in Criminal proceedings and Victims’ Rights.

Participants met the tutors who will accompany them in the implementation of the course for the following three months: Galina Toneva and Kornelia Kirilova for the Bulgarian group, with Galina Zaharova joining as well as tutor online, Martin Lysek and Jana Zapletalova for the Czech group and Claudia Jderu and Roxana Rizoiu for the Romanian group. They explained to the participants how the course will be implemented, they presented the materials prepared for the national adaptation of the courses and also pinpointed some practical challenges in the national context concerning procedural safeguards and victims’ rights in the context of criminal proceedings. The participants also had the possibility to share their expectations from the course and exchange with their colleagues.

Following the online launch events, all participants will be enrolled on the course pages and will go through the online course. Those among them who successfully complete the course will receive HELP certificates issued by the Council of Europe.

The HELP online course on Procedural Safeguards in Criminal Proceedings and Victims’ Rights is also available to any legal professional interested in the topic, in the self-learning part of the HELP e-learning platform, in English and French as well as in Czech, Spanish,  Romanian, Slovak and Ukrainian. It will soon be made available in Bulgarian.

This HELP course was developed combining both the fundamental procedural rights of accused and suspected persons in criminal proceedings and the rights of victims of crime, encompassing standards from both Council of Europe , mainly the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights case law, and the EU, focusing on the Roadmap Directives and the relevant CJEU case law. It is primarily aimed at judges, prosecutors and lawyers working in criminal law.

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