The main partners of the Project are EU national training institutions and bar associations, with the Spanish Bar Association as key partner.

The main beneficiaries are lawyers, judges and prosecutors from EU countries.

The main aim is to contribute to an increased protection of fundamental rights and rule of law in the EU member states in areas such as fundamental rights and rule of law,  including children’s rights, ethics for judges, prosecutors and lawyers, family law, international cooperation in criminal matters, procedural safeguards in criminal proceedings and victims’ rights etc.

The specific objectives are:

  1. To enhance EU legal professionals’ capacities to effectively and coherently apply European fundamental rights standards at the national level and through cross-border training, mainly referring to the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights (the Charter), the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the (revised) European Social Charter (ESC) and other relevant EU and Council of Europe law.
  2. To strengthen the HELP (Human Rights Education for Legal professionals) Network of Judicial Training Institutions and Bar Associations in the EU and increase mutual trust between EU practitioners.

Project information

  • Duration: 30 months (1 March 2022 – 31 August 2024)
  • Place/ country: European Union
  • Budget: 1 389 448.50 €
  • Funding: Joint Programme, funded by the EU and the Council of Europe, implemented by the Council of Europe

Project documentation

Courses developed/updated under the Project
Project news

Back Procedural Safeguards in Criminal proceedings and Victims’ Rights: HELP course launched for legal professionals in Bulgaria, Czechia and Romania

© Council of Europe

© Council of Europe

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.


  Access the Council of Europe HELP online platform and take for free our courses on human rights

Strasbourg 23-25 June 2020
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