Lawyers from North Macedonia expanded their knowledge in the field of defamation, access to public information and protection of journalistic sources during the cascade training conducted in Mavrovo, by the Bar Association of North Macedonia with the support of the joint EU and Council of Europe action on “Freedom of expression and freedom of the media in North Macedonia (JUFREX)”.

The local and international experts of the Council of Europe presented for the audience the national legislation and the European standards as well as the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights in the field of freedom of expression. The lively discussions that followed the presentations, contributed to a unique exchange of practical experiences and important views on how to use the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights in the domestic courts.

Lawyers, who have been dealing in their careers with defamation and/or insult cases shared their experiences and reasoning with their colleagues. They stressed the fact that with the increasing number of court cases in the field of defamation, rises the necessity for knowledgeable representatives among the lawyers in the field.

The cascade trainings organised by JUFREX action with legal professionals provides a platform to exchange practices and experiences and thus ensures sustainability and contributes to improve the application of European standards in the local level.

This training was organised under the Grant Agreement with the Bar Association of North Macedonia within the action on “Freedom of expression and freedom of the media in North Macedonia (JUFREX 2)” . This action is a part of the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”, that enables the Beneficiaries to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with the European standards, including where relevant within the framework of the EU enlargement process.