The project continued its capacity-building activities with lawyers of the Bar Association focusing on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to respect for private and family life. In line with the agreed regional approach, the latest workshop was held last Saturday with lawyers from the Ferizaj/Uroševac branch of the Bar Association.

The workshop brought together more than 50 legal practitioners to examine the standards and principles arising from Article 8 of the Convention through the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court of Kosovo*^[1]. Participants received a comprehensive overview of the interpretation and scope of Article 8, including its four core components: private life, family life, home, and correspondence.

Particular attention was given to the positive and negative obligations of the state, proportionality assessment, balancing competing rights, and the practical application of Strasbourg case law in domestic proceedings.

The discussions further explored key concepts developed in the Strasbourg Court’s jurisprudence, including physical, psychological and moral integrity, privacy, identity, autonomy, the protection of family life, inviolability of the home, and correspondence. In addition, participants reviewed the case law of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo* concerning Article 36 of the Constitution in conjunction with Article 8 of the Convention.

The training also focused on practical tools and resources for researching and referencing relevant Strasbourg Court’s jurisprudence. Participants were introduced to the knowledge sharing platform of the Court ECHR-KS, HUDOC case law database and its search functions, the Court’s Case Law Guides, Transversal Themes, and Thematic Factsheets, with a view to strengthening their ability to identify and apply relevant Strasbourg standards in domestic cases.

This marked the sixth workshop organised with lawyers of the Kosovo* Bar Association since the beginning of the project, bringing the total number of trained lawyers from different regional branches to more than 300. The next training session is scheduled for 23 May with lawyers from the Gjakova/Đakovica regional branch of the Bar Association.