On 6 December 2016, the HELP Programme and UNHCR, in close cooperation with the Italian School of Magistracy (Scuola della Magistratura), launched the HELP/UNHCR course on “the ECHR and Asylum” for a pilot group of Italian civil and criminal judges, prosecutors and ombudspersons in Rome. Speaking at the launch of the course, Mr Gaetano Silvestri, President of the Scuola della Magistratura, emphasised how the training could reinforce “a common culture of the judicial protection of asylum”. This is the first time that such training tool has been implemented in Italy, one of the first countries in the world to have recognised the right to asylum in its Constitution. The course has already been successfully rolled out for legal professionals in nine countries across Europe, from Spain to Russia.

A widely attended round-table on the detention of migrants and asylum-seekers, held on 5-6 December 2016 at the Appeal Court of Rome, preceded the lauch of the HELP course. The event was organised jointly by the UNHCR, the Superior School for Magistrates and the Council of Europe. The two-day event covered a variety of issues, including the interplay and complementarity between the protection of refugees under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and other international refugee law. There were comprehensive presentations and discussions on case-law of the European Court of Human Rights under Article 3 and 5 ECHR, with a specific focus on case-law pertaining to migrant children. The UNHCR Global Strategy to support governments to end the detention of asylum-seekers and refugees was likewise covered. Different panels comprising both national and international experts engaged in an open discussion with the audience on issues such as the legality of detention, conditions of detention and ways in which to foster effective alternatives to detention.