The new Council of Europe HELP (Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals) course on Protection and Safety of Journalists is now available on the HELP online platform.
The course was developed jointly with the Council of Europe Information Society Department, under the action “Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media in South-East Europe (JUFREX 2)” implemented under the European Union and Council of Europe Joint Programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II”. Representatives of the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists and of the Office of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as a senior lawyer from the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights also contributed to the course development.
Background and aim
Freedom of expression and free flow of information are cornerstones of public debate and democracy.
Yet, freedom of expression and the safety of journalists are facing major challenges in Europe today. In many countries, journalists and other media actors are facing threats such as censorship, political and economic pressure, intimidation, job insecurity, abusive use of defamation laws as well as physical attacks. These offences are often committed in an intolerable context of impunity, which fuels recidivism and has a chilling effect on media freedom.
On the basis of the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights’ case law, member States have both negative and positive obligations to protect journalists. Not only must they refrain from intimidating political declarations or judicial practices against media actors, they also have the duty to actively grant them full protection of the law and the judiciary in order to create an enabling environment for their journalistic activities.
This free HELP online course aims at assisting legal professionals, but also journalists and law-enforcement officials, in identifying and tackling the threats towards journalists and other media actors.
Course structure
The overall length of the course is approximately 10 hours and is composed of five substantive modules.
Module 1: Key standards and principles
- Introduction to the topic
- Freedom of expressions
- Journalists and other media actors
Module 2: Threats against journalism
- Threats against journalists
- Effects of the threats
- Response to the threats
Module 3: Legal frameworks and mechanisms and tools
- The United Nations, Council of Europe, European Union and OSCE legal frameworks
- Mechanisms and tools for protection of journalists, including the Council of Europe Platform for protection of journalism and safety of journalists
Module 4: Physical and psychological integrity
- Positive and negative obligations of the State; substantive and procedural dimension of States’ obligations
- Impunity for crimes against journalists and effects of impunity
Module 5: Journalism in action
- Newsgathering: access to places and events, access to public information, protection of sources and whistleblowers etc.
- Publication: substantive and procedural legal limitations
- Journalism on trial
- Law enforcement and journalists
At the end of each module there is a quiz and a summary of the module. Upon finalisation, provided the user has succesfully passed the course an electronic statement of accomplishment is provided.
Access to the course
The updated course is publicly available in English on the HELP online platform. By the end of 2020, it will be available in language versions for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.
Access the Council of Europe HELP online platform and take the course Protection and Safety of Journalists for free!
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.
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