The Pompidou Group’s online course on human rights and drug use, developed under the Council of Europe’s Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals Programme (HELP), is now available.

On 10 March 2025, the Pompidou Group organised a side event  at the 68th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) of the United Nations titled  "Aligning drug and addiction policies with human rights commitments and obligations", where the course was officially presented to the international community.

This course is a comprehensive compilation of relevant legal standards, human rights principles, and case law of the European Court of Human Rights, aiming to bridge the gap between drug policy and human rights education. It is primarily designed for legal professionals (judges, prosecutors, lawyers) but is also relevant for members of national Human Rights institutions, policymakers and decision-makers who apply the normative framework and policies, and practitioners in the criminal justice system, including prison and probation staff, prison directors and managers.

This course consists of 4 modules, combining subjects on both drug policies and human rights principles:

• Module 1 - Definitions, key concepts and sources of human rights
• Module 2 - Human rights and drug use in practice
• Module 3 - Human rights aspects concerning health and treatment
• Module 4 - Human rights aspects at different stages of the administration of justice

Developed with expertise from legal, human rights, treatment and drug policy professionals, as well as input from Council of Europe entities, other international organisations and representatives of the civil society, the course provides an interdisciplinary perspective on human rights and drug policy and encourage alignment of drug policy with human rights principles within the criminal justice system.

The course is freely available in self-learning format on the HELP e-learning platform. Interested individuals are encouraged to enrol and take advantage of this valuable resource.

To access the course, creation of a HELP account is necessary.