The first pilot training session on “Resolving conflicts between the right to freedom of expression (Article 10 of the ECHR) and the right to private life (Article 8 of the ECHR)” took place on 12 and 13 October 2022 in Zagreb. In total 16 participants, judges and prosecutors, from all over Croatia attended the training which was presented by three tutors, Prof. dr. sc. Ksenija Turković, Department of Criminal Law, Law Faculty of Zagreb, Ms Štefica Stažnik, Croatian Representative before the European Court of Human Rights and Ms Iva Lukin, Senior advisor, Office of the Croatian Representative before the European Court for Human Rights. The training was designed to provide information on available search tools, theoretical background and practical exercises on the case law of the European Court on Human Rights. The Agenda included test for applying of the Article 10 of the Convention, whereas the second part of the training included hypothetical cases and their analysis.

This is the first training in the list of trainings in the training program developed under the Project in consultation with the project partners – the Judicial Academy of Croatia and the Office of the Representative of the Republic of Croatia before the European Court of Human Rights. The training programme based on the recommendations from the Training Needs Assessment takes into account the interests of target groups (criminal, civil, and administrative law practitioners), the availability of respective materials and HELP courses adapted for Croatia, and the recommendations of CoE monitoring bodies. Majority of pilot trainings are foreseen for implementation in a face-to-face format, while for the online trainings existing e-learning tools as well as a new Moodle platform will be used to support the training implementation, and strengthen the participants digital learning experience.

The Project “Promotion of the rule of law and fundamental rights through high-quality online trainings in the Croatian Judiciary” implemented by the Council of Europe (CoE) in cooperation with the European Commission DG REFORM is aimed at providing support to the Judicial Academy of Croatia to improve the methodology, tools and expertise to design and deliver high-quality training. The Croatian judiciary should be strengthened through development of remotely accessible training resources, and specifically through training focusing on the existing standards in the field of human rights protection and the rule of law, and their practical application.

The Project “Promotion of the rule of law and fundamental rights through high-quality online trainings in the Croatian Judiciary” is co-funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, and implemented by the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the European Commission, the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM).