On 26 November 2025, Lviv University of Trade and Economics hosted the international conference "HELP in University Education: Promoting European Human Rights Standards for Future Professionals". The event brought together more than 90 representatives of universities in Lviv and 70 participants online.
As a flagship educational initiative of the Council of Europe, the HELP Programme’s yearly event dedicated to university education focused on supporting universities and professors in advancing human rights education and integrating the Council of Europe HELP Programme into university curricula.
In the opening remarks Ms Lilja Grétarsdóttir, Head of Department for the Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Co-operation Standards of the Council of Europe highlighted: “We are witnessing the institutionalisation of the HELP Programme, becoming a tool to be integrated in national training institutions and law faculties to help legal professionals applying the European human rights standards and students to understand these standards”.
Mr Petro Kutsyk, Rector of Lviv University of Trade and Economics highlighted the importance of the HELP Programme and noted that the University is actively integrating numerous HELP courses into its curriculum.
Ukraine counts currently around 5,800 registered university students and teachers making this group of users the largest in Ukraine (25% of all users in Ukraine). A pre-conference survey confirmed that over two-thirds of participating universities already use HELP courses, either systematically or occasionally, most commonly as supplementary materials, forms of students’ independent work, a tool for the professional development of academic staff, or practical training component. These findings underline the growing relevance of HELP as a tool for enhancing knowledge of future professionals on European human rights standards.
The expert panels focused on strengthening academic cooperation through Council of Europe HELP and OCEAN Programmes. Examples were showcased from Ukrainian universities and the Law School of Sarajevo University.
National training institutions, particularly the National School of Judges of Ukraine, the Prosecutors’ Training Center of Ukraine, and High School of Advocacy shared their experience in implementing HELP courses. These institutions have accredited HELP courses and award credits to legal professionals who complete them. The courses are adapted for use in their training programmes and are run by HELP tutors on a sustainable basis and with minimal reliance on the HELP Secretariat. The Academy of Justice of Türkiye also presented their approach on implementation of the HELP courses in the training curricula.
Participants discussed current challenges in human rights, the rule of law and education, with a particular focus on the implementation of ECtHR judgments, the effectiveness of human rights protection during the ongoing conflict, and the role of legal education in strengthening the quality of justice.
The conference concluded with a shared commitment from universities and national training institutions to further expand the use of HELP courses in a more sustainable manner.
The co-organisers of the conference were:
- Lviv University of Trade and Economics
- Council of Europe Project “HELP (Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals) for Ukraine including during wartime”, Phase II
- Council of Europe Project “Support to the functioning of justice in the war and post-war context in Ukraine”
- HELP in Universities network
- Open Council of Europe Academic Networks (OCEAN) Programme, Council of Europe
More about the HELP Programme’s work, including for universities, can be found in the Annual Report.
The full Catalogue of online courses can be consulted here. All courses (over 60 topics, available in over 700 language versions) are accessible on the CoE HELP eLearning platform.
How can professors integrate HELP courses in their curricula?
- Go to the HELP Catalogue of online courses or directly on the HELP eLearning platform and select the course of your choice (in English or directly in the national language if available)
- Don’t have a HELP account? Create one here
- Decide how to use the course in your class:
- Integrated in the curricula (mandatory/optional; preparatory/follow-up to your in-person classes)
- Assignments/conditional for final exam; extra points in final grade, etc.
- In preparation of moot courts or for legal clinics/students’ projects
- Send the course link to your students and collect their electronic certificates as proof of completion
