Within the scope of the Joint Project “Reinforcing Judicial Expertise on Freedom of Expression and the Media in South-East Europe (JUFREX),” co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe, a Training of trainers for judges and public prosecutors, on freedom of expression, was co-organised in cooperation with the Justice Academy on 27-29 November 2018 in Bitola, Macedonia.

The main aim of the training was to enhance the existing pool of national trainers trained on freedom of expression, namely by introducing new members to the pool selected among the participants of the training. It is intended that the newly trained trainers will be employed by their respective institutions in further cascade trainings on the topic, making use of their newly acquired skills and knowledge.

One of the specific aims of the training was to build up on participants’ knowledge on the Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, notably by including training sessions on: the concept of freedom of expression, limitations to the right on freedom of expression, defamation, hate speech, good administration of justice, freedom of expression and the internet and protection of journalists. The second specific aim of the training was to enhance the participants’ knowledge and skills on adult learning methodology, namely with a view to best practices related to delivering interactive and dynamic trainings for legal professionals.

The training involved 10 participants, judges and public prosecutors from several appellate areas in the country and was facilitated by three experts.