What they do

The HELP Consultative Board is a body appointed by the HELP Network for providing advisory support to the HELP Secretariat outside the meetings of the HELP Network and shall, in this respect:

  • evaluate standard curricula and training materials developed by the HELP Programme;
  • propose priority themes for future training activities to the HELP Network;
  • identify an overall strategy for the co-ordination on human rights training among relevant international and national actors, including the development of regional initiatives;
  • provide advice on training methodologies for legal professionals;
  • co-operate with the HELP Editorial Staff (the HELP Editorial Staff is composed of experts on ECtHR case law, ECHR training, IT and web-communication expert. It is appointed by the HELP Secretariat and is responsible for planning and implementing a communication strategy for the HELP Programme and for publishing and revising news and training materials on the HELP websites);
  • provide advice on other additional specific issues identified by the HELP Network and its Secretariat;
  • prepare an annual report for the HELP Network.

Working Methods:

The HELP Consultative Board co-ordinates its activities with the Secretariat of the HELP Programme.

Meetings are convened at the premises of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and are organised as follows: 7 members, 2 one-day meetings per year.

Mandate

The HELP Consultative Board is a body appointed by the HELP Network for providing regular advisory support to the HELP Secretariat.

It is normally composed of six members who are appointed among the representatives of the HELP Network.

At least one representative of training institutions of each category of legal professionals (judges, prosecutors, lawyers) participating in the HELP Programme shall be part of the Consultative Board.

The composition of the Consultative Board is decided at the HELP Network’s annual Conference by secret ballot. In case an election takes place the first six candidates to gather most of the votes are elected.

The term of reference were updated in 2016 so that the term of office for the Consultative Board’s members is of two years. Except during the Transitional Period no representative shall serve more than two consecutive terms on the Consultative Board. The transitional period of the Consultative Board shall end at the end of the HELP Network's annual conference in 2018. At the election in 2018 the three longest serving members of the Consultative Board shall stand down and be ineligible for re-election in 2018.

The members of the Consultative Board may appoint among them Rapporteurs for specific themes. The Consultative Board reports on its activities at the HELP Network’s annual Conference.

Consultative Board Elections 2016

This year, the new Consultative Board was elected at the 2016 Annual HELP Network Conference. The successful candidates, as our newly formed Consultative Board, are listed below.

The elections took place on the second day of the Conference by secret ballot. As of this year, the election will be rotating, in order to allow for continuity within the Consultative Board. The Board is representative of both Bar Associations (BAs) and National Training Institutions (NTIs).

Congratulations again to our new members and we look forward to future co-operation between the Board and the HELP Secretariat.

Consultative Board 2014-2016

The Consultative Board who served as members between June 2014 and June 2016 were:

  • Petros Alikakos, NTI, Greece
  • Grzegorz Borkowski, NTI, Poland
  • Sandra Budimir, BA, Croatia
  • Simon O'Toole, BA, UK
  • Beatrice Ramascanu, NTI, Romania
  • Jolanta Samuolyte, BA, Lithuania
  • Pier Giovanni Traversa, BA, Italy

The activities of the Board can be seen in the Reports published below. The HELP Secretariat extend their thanks to the previous Board members for all their hard work and for their invaluable contribution to HELP's success during their mandate.

Reports

You will find here the activity reports of the HELP Consultative Board published in:

  • June 2014