A two day training for newly appointed prosecutors was held on 6-7 September 2018 in Suhareka, Kosovo*. Organised by the Academy of Justice 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 the training gathered 22 new prosecutors who had the opportunity to gain knowledge on Freedom of Expression in general, with specific focus on the right to access public information, good administration of justice and protection of journalists.

During the first day, prosecutors were introduced to standards of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in relation to the right to access information and documents, a four-step test of ECHR and its jurisprudence as well as to the local legal and institutional framework.

Training sessions of the second day included discussion on positive obligations of the state, real and inevitable threats against journalists, effective access for complainants to the investigative procedures, etc.

Concrete examples provided by the local and international experts were followed with lively discussions among participants.

The training was entirely based on the training handbook prepared by the JUFREX project.

The views expressed therein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.

*This designation is without prejudice to positions to status, and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence