The employees of the Regional Offices of the Ministry of Justice are attending in Strumica, a three-days training of trainers (ToT) on Free Legal Aid Law. Supported by the European Union and Council of Europe joint programme Horizontal Facility II and in close cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of North Macedonia, 16 employees of the Regional Offices (ROs) are being trained with relevant knowledge and tools to be future trainers on Free Legal Aid issues. The training will enhance their skills and the expertise when dealing with legal aid applicants and it will also strengthen the internal pool of trainers in the Ministry of Justice, created under the first phase of the project, recognising the crucial role that the employees at the ROs play in the Free Legal Aid system.
The importance of the future trainers for the Ministry of Justice and for overall legal aid system in North Macedonia as drivers of change for better implementation of the Law on Free Legal Aid and protection of citizen’s rights, was stressed in the opening remarks by Mr. Arkin Jahiji, State Advisor at the Ministry of Justice.
During the training, the participants had opportunity to improve their presentation and communication skills through practical exercises and delivering trainings in front of their colleagues on free legal aid topics using different techniques and simulations.
Ms. Maria Marinova Alkalay is the leading international expert to conduct this training, supported by the local consultants Ms. Maja Atanasova and Mr. Goce Kocevski, responsible for the legal aspects of the training.
It is expected that in the next period the new trainers will deliver capacity building activities on Free Legal Aid services to the rest of the employees at the Regional Offices at the Ministry of Justice.
This activity is organised by the action “Supporting enhanced access to higher quality Free Legal Aid services in North Macedonia” which is part of the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.
