The law students involved in the human rights’ legal clinic in Montenegro participated in the online workshop on “Legal aid for migrants and asylum seekers” organised in co-operation with UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR in Podgorica on 3 March 2021.

Refugees and asylum seekers are a special category of non-nationals and require special protection due to their vulnerability. In 2020, Montenegro hosted nearly 12 000 refugees from former Yugoslavia, while 2,836 registered in the asylum procedure. Along with the due consideration to the particular vulnerability of this population, the students learned about the main features of the support to be provided when they are victims of sexual and gender-based violence.

Human rights’ legal clinic was launched for Montenegrin law students with the support of the European Union and Council of Europe in October 2020. The legal clinic brings together students from three law faculties, with the aim to broaden their practical knowledge and skills on the human rights issues. They will be working with legal practitioners, judges, lawyers and civil society activists in order to gain practical skills on how to deal with “real cases”.

The action "Improved procedural safeguards in judicial proceedings in Montenegro", that has supported the launching of human rights legal clinic, is a part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.