On 13 September 2024, over 30 judges, prosecutors and other legal professionals from Latvia attended, the online launch seminar of the Council of Europe HELP course on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The launch seminar was organised by the Latvian Judicial Training Centre, in cooperation with the Justice and Human Rights Training Division of the Council of Europe. The online event started with a welcome address given by Madara Blūmere, Legal programme Officer with the Latvian partner. She talked about her institution’s collaboration with the HELP Programme, and the usefulness of HELP courses for the promotion of human rights knowledge among legal professionals in Latvia.
The keynote speech of the day was given by Boglarka Benko from the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). She discussed evolutions in the case-law of the Court relevant for the rights of persons with disabilities, focusing on issues related to legal capacity, direct and indirect discrimination, reasonable accommodation, the right to vote and the right to liberty.
She looked at cases such as D.D. v. Lithuania (2013) and Calvi and G.C. v. Italy (2023), Negovanović and Others v. Serbia (2022) and Guberina v. Croatia (2016), Arnar Helgi Lárusson v. Iceland (2022) and Toplak and Mrak v. Slovenia (2021), Stanev v. Bulgaria (2012) and P.W. v. Austria (2022). She also touched upon links with the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The online event ended with a session led again by Aelita Ignatjeva (Judge with the Riga District Court) and Anita Kovalevska (Judge at the Latvian Supreme Court). The will serve as HELP tutors for the attending group; they talked about how the course was to be implemented following the event and ensured the aprticipants that they will be provided with support and guidance during the following weeks.
During the launch event, all participants have been registered on the dedicated course page and are now ready to start the tutored course. HELP certificates, issued by the Council of Europe and the Latvian Judicial Training Centre, will be awarded to those who successfully complete the course.
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The HELP course on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a comprehensive course on the topic, aiming to increase the knowledge of legal professionals and other relevant stakeholders on the applicable international and Council of Europe (CoE)standards. The course has been tailored to meet the learning needs of those working on the rights of persons with disabilities, by using the HELP training methodology. Legal professionals are at the front line in that respect, with their work being of critical importance in ensuring the effective and efficient protection of the rights of persons with disabilities.
The model English course has been developed jointly by ACCESS –Advocacy Centre on Council of Europe Standards and the HELP Programme of the Council of Europe, within the framework of the project ''Promoting the social rights of persons with disabilities by building the capacity of Armenian civil society organisations to engage with the CoE monitoring mechanisms", funded by the European Union through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights. The course was developed in 2018 and updated in 2022.
This free on-line course targets judges, prosecutors and lawyers, but also staff of civil society organisations, national human rights institutions, law students etc.
The course is available in self-learning format, with a duration of 8 hours. It is currently available in English, Italian and Slovenian. Translations in other languages is in progress. Upon completion, users can generate their electronic Statements of Accomplishment, in proof of their acquired knowledge and skills.
HELP courses are intended, in the long term, to become an integral part of the overall learning curricula of the national training institutions and/or other competent authorities of the CoE member states and beyond.