Within the scope of the Joint Project “Reinforcing Judicial Expertise on Freedom of Expression and the Media in South-East Europe (JUFREX),” co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe, a training course on freedom of expression and good administration of justice for judges, prosecutors and legal professionals was organised in partnership with the Macedonian Academy for judges and public prosecutors “Pavel Satev” on 6-8 June 2018 in Ohrid.

The training was led by an international consultant, Mr Darian Pavli, senior expert with experience in the Open Society Justice Initiative in New York and a national consultant, Ms Lidija Dimova, judge at the court of first instance in Veles. The aim of the training was to strengthen participants’ knowledge on certain aspects of Article 10 of the ECHR, notably the freedom of expression of representatives of the judiciary. The training also covered topics related to ethics, independence, impartiality and integrity of justice actors in relation to their rights to freedom of expression.

The training involved 70 participants, including judges and judicial assistants of various courts in the country and prosecutors and prosecutorial assistants. The international expert shared with participants relevant court practice before the European Court of Human Rights regarding freedom of expression cases pertaining to representatives of the judiciary, in line with Article 10 of the ECHR, while the national expert highlighted the applicable national legislation.

“The views expressed therein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union”