To this end, the Council of Europe held two trainings within the Initial Training Program for the 28 newly appointed judges in cooperation with the Judicial and Prosecutorial Training Centres of FBiH and RS.

The trainings were delivered in accordance with the newly developed Human Rights Training Curriculum for Initial and Continuous Training of Judges and Prosecutors.  The curriculum consists of 12 modules, including also the online learning methodology of the the Council of Europe HELP platform, and is primarily intended for initial training for the legal associates and newly appointed judicial office holders, but it is also applicable for continuous training. It applies a special adult learning methodology focused on knowledge and presentation skills.

The first training, held from 5-6 October 2022 was focused on the module of the Curriculum: Reasoning of criminal judgments. The second training covered the Reasoning of civil judgments and was held from 26-27 October 2022. The success of the training was assessed in accordance with the Council of Europe’s Methodology for Evaluation of Human Rights Training, which is integrated into the Curriculum.

Well-reasoned judicial decisions are a safeguard against arbitrary adjudication and ensure the proper delivery of justice, but also public trust in the judicial system. This right is explicitly stated in the European Court of Human Right’s case law under Article 6 of the ECHR.

The activities were carried out within the project “Initiative for Legal Certainty and Efficient Judiciary in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Phase III”, implemented by the Council of Europe thanks to the voluntary contribution of the Government of Norway.