The Council of Europe and the Academy for judges and public prosecutors in North Macedonia has launched today an online course on combating trafficking in human beings to help legal practitioners to better identify, investigate and prosecute cases of human trafficking and to assist victims. 31 participants including judges, prosecutors, judicial assistants and criminal investigators have registered for the course.

Trafficking in human beings is a violation of human rights and an offence to the dignity and integrity of the human being. It affects thousands of victims every year. The online course is built upon the standards developed under the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and is developed in the framework of the Council of Europe’s Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) Programme. It explores different issues from a human rights perspective including the legal concepts, identification of and assistance to victims of human trafficking, the non-punishment principle, investigation, prosecution and the issue of compensation. All participants will receive a certificate upon successful participation.

The online HELP course is organised within the joint EU/Council of Europe programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II - "Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human beings in North Macedonia", implemented by the Council of Europe, with support of the Council of Europe HELP (Human rights education for legal professionals) Unit.