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Back Final seminar of EU-CoE HELP project on radicalisation prevention, judicial response to terrorism and international cooperation in criminal matters

On 12 May 2022, the Council of Europe HELP (Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals) Programme organised a Seminar on Strengthening EU criminal justice systems. This was the final activity organised under the EU-CoE project HELP Radicalisation prevention, Judicial response to terrorism and International cooperation in criminal matters. The seminar aimed at analysing the results and impact of the project, mainly through sharing best experiences and concrete “success stories” from different jurisdictions.

The event, held online, was attended by 17 professionals including judges, prosecutors, prison and probation staff, academics, government representatives, international organisation representatives, psychologists and others, from 23 countries.

The opening remarks of the seminar were delivered by Eva Pastrana, Head of the Justice and Human Rights Training Division, and Lena Geckle, representing the European Commission´s Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers. Participants of the morning session included: Eva Massa, Project Coordinator, Willem Van Der Brugge and Miroslava Jakešová, who spoke in representation of the Confederation of European Probation (CEP), partner in the project. The afternoon sessions focused on success stories from the project, with specific examples from different countries and professions.

A wide variety of legal professionals have benefited from the implementation of the online courses and activities of the project. The audience reached, going beyond the initial expectations, represents a first strong marker of the success of the whole programme. The project involved 765 participants from 18 EU Member States and had an impact beyond the EU. The course on radicalisation prevention was adapted to the Western Balkan region, where 65 activities were implemented, from which over 1400 participants benefited. In Morocco, the course on radicalisation prevention immediately generated the interest of many Moroccan institutions (judiciary, Bar, penitentiary, etc.), which ensured a multiagency composition of the Working Group implementing activities. A successful implementation was also ensured in Tunisia.

Participants in the project improved their knowledge of international cooperation (particularly related to the management of a European arrest warrant) where new guidelines have been proposed.

Although the project comes to an end, the impact of the courses and activities implemented will continue for many years thanks to the partnerships created with all the legal institutions that have been involved in this project.

Courses on:

Radicalisation Prevention,
International Cooperation in Criminal Matters, and
Managing Foreign National Prisoners (developed jointly with Europris),

are available in many different languages on the HELP e-learning platform. They are available for self-learning and, upon completion, learners can obtain an individualised and digital ‘statement of accomplishment’.

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