Two new groups of legal professionals – judges, prosecutors, their assistants and lawyers – have joined the cohort of users of Council of Europe HELP courses available in the Romanian language.

On 3 April, the Council of Europe HELP course Alternative Measures to Detention was launched in cooperation with the National Institute of Justice of the Republic of Moldova. 80 legal professionals, including judges, prosecutors, judicial assistants, consultants to prosecutors, lawyers who provide legal state aid are enrolled in this course.

The course helps get a clear understanding of the definition, essence, regulation and application of alternatives to detention. In this regard, it refers to the most relevant and valuable international standards in the field. The course contains modules on community sanctions and measures, substantive and procedural rights, non-custodial alternatives to detention, vulnerable groups and electronic monitoring. Theoretic material of the course is supported by presentations, interactive tasks, knowledge tests, scenarios and reflective exercises.

On 8 April the Council of Europe HELP course on the Right to Liberty and Security for a group of 35 lawyers was launched in cooperation with the Moldovan Union of Lawyers and its Training Centre.

The right to liberty and security is of the highest importance in a democratic society and is a fundamental human right. Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights guarantees that all individuals should be free from arbitrary or unjustified deprivations of liberty. This course presents the concept of liberty, its meaning and the facts that should be taken into consideration when detaining individuals, placing them in custody or when defending those deprived of liberty.

This is the second time this tutor-guided course is taught in the Republic of Moldova; it was previously successfully piloted with a group of trainees from and in cooperation with the National Institute of Justice.

The entire learning process for both groups is taking place exclusively online, organised within the framework of the Council of Europe Programme “Promoting a human rights compliant criminal justice system in the Republic of Moldova” funded by the Government of Norway.