Last week, over 150 Italian judges, prosecutors and lawyers started their training on HELP courses on several human rights related topics, with 2 online launch events organised on 28 and 29 April, under the EU-CoE HELP EU III project.

On 28 April, the HELP online course on Ethics for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers was launched for a group of judges and prosecutors. The group was welcomed by Gianluca Grasso, representative of the Scuola Superiore della Magistratura (SSM) and HELP Focal Point for Italy. On 29 April, 4 groups of Italian lawyers took part in a joint launch of 4 HELP courses, namely Asylum and Human Rights, Ethics for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers, Labour Rights as Human Rights and Combatting Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. The participants were welcomed by Francesca Sorbi, representative of the Consiglio Nazionale Forense (CNF).

Raffaele Sabato, Judge at the European Court of Human Rights elected in respect of Italy, attended both launch events and gave a keynote speech on the relevant case-law with respect to Italy.

The tutor for the group of judges and prosecutors (Chiara Salamone - Ethics for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers); as well as the tutors for the groups of lawyers (Alessio Sangiorgi - Asylum and Human Rights; Giovanni Pansini - Ethics for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers; Francesca Paparoni - Labour Rights as Human Rights; Ivana Roagna - Violence against Women and Domestic Violence) provided the attendees with the details on the courses’ structure and their implementation. They will be guiding the participants through the courses in the following months.

Following the online launch events, the participants will be enrolled in their course pages and will attend the respective HELP online courses in Italian. Those among them who successfully complete them will receive HELP certificates issued by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the national partner (SSM and CNF respectively).

Participants also had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) Programme of the Council of Europe and its e-learning platform that offers 44 courses on human rights topics, available in over 500 language versions. The courses can be taken in self-learning format by any legal professional interested (with open, self-paced and free access); upon completion, users can generate their electronic Statement of Accomplishment.

The launches continue the rich cooperation with the national partners in charge of training Italian legal professionals, the SSM and the CNF, that lead over the recent years in a considerable increase of the use of HELP courses and their integration in the training curricula for judges, prosecutors and lawyers. The HELP e-learning platform counts over 9000 users from Italy and offers 18 online courses on various human rights related topic, in Italian, in self learning format.  For registered lawyers, some of these courses are also accredited for continuous training points (please consult the CNF website for more details). These initiatives are in line with the the goal set by EU Judicial Training Strategy 2021-2024 in training at least 65% judges and prosecutors and 15 % lawyers on EU law, including human rights, by 2024. The efforts made by the Italian CNF in training Italian lawyers through the shift to online training schemes such as the HELP programme of the Council of Europe was commended by the EU in the 2021 European Judicial Strategy Report.

Asylum and Human Rights

Initially developed jointly with UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The update process was done under the EU-CoE ‘HELP EU II’ project in cooperation with the UNHCR Representation to the European Institutions in Strasbourg and involved several relevant CoE entities, namely the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on migration and refugees, the Independent Human Rights Bodies Division as well the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights. Read course brief

Modules:

1. Introduction
2. Non-refoulement, the right to life and prohibition of ill-treatment
3. Detention and Reception
4. The right to family life and asylum
5. Effective remedy

Ethics for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers

Developed in 2020-2021 under the EU-CoE "HELP in the EU II" project in cooperation with the following Council of Europe entities/services: 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. Read Course Brief

Modules:

1. Introduction
2. International and European Framework
3. Ethics for Judges
4. Ethics for Prosecutors
5. Ethics for Lawyers

Labour Rights as Human Rights

Developed under the European Union-Council of Europe funded project "HELP in the 28", in close cooperation with the Secretariat of the European Committee on Social Rights of the Council of Europe. The update process was done under the EU-CoE ‘HELP EU II’ project. Read course brief

Modules:

1. Introduction
2. RIght
3. Right to work and employment relationship
4. Working time
5. Fair remuneration and protection of wages
6. Termination of employment
7. Equality and non-discrimination
8. Collective labour rights on all levels
9. Occupational safety and health

Violence against Women and Domestic Violence

Developed in cooperation with the Gender Equality Division of the Council of Europe. Read course brief

Modules:

1. Understanding violence against women and domestic violence
2. International and European Legal Framework
3. Overcoming barriers / access to Justice
4. Criminal Justice Response I – Investigation and pre-trial
5. Criminal Justice Response II – Trial and sentencing
6. Civil Justice Response
7. Alternative Dispute Resolution