Newly appointed judges and prosecutors in Bosnia and Herzegovina enhanced their expertise in protecting human rights, particularly in relation to hate crimes and hate speech, during a specialised training on 5–6 November in Sarajevo.

The programme, conducted by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the entity centres for the education of judges and prosecutors, focused on key topics such as freedom of expression, defamation, hate speech, and hate crimes, examined through the lens of both the European Court of Human Rights and the BiH Constitutional Court case law.

31 participants took part in the training, which explored practical examples from real-life cases. The sessions highlighted the balance between protecting freedom of expression and safeguarding individuals from defamation, equipping participants with tools to apply European standards in their daily judicial work.

This training is part of the Council of Europe’s Human Rights Training Curriculum. It combines in-person sessions with online learning through the HELP (Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals) platform, ensuring a flexible and comprehensive approach.

These initiatives support the continuous professional development of judges and prosecutors, strengthening the capacity of the BiH judiciary to uphold human rights and European legal standards.

The training was carried out as part of the Council of Europe project “Support to a coherent national implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights and facilitating the execution of judgements of the European Court of Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, which is funded through the Action plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period 2022-2025.