Back Council of Europe showcases its Guidelines and its HELP online courses on children’s rights at the World Congress on Justice with Children

Council of Europe showcases its Guidelines and its HELP online courses on children’s rights at the World Congress on Justice with Children

The work of the Council of Europe and its HELP online courses on Child-friendly Justice, Children’s Rights – Key Challenges and Refugee and Migrant Children were presented during the 2021 World Congress on Justice with Children “Ensuring access to justice for all children: towards non-discriminatory and inclusive child justice systems”.

The 2021 World Congress on Justice with Children was organised on 15-20 November 2021 by Terres des Hommes, Global Initiative on Justice with Children and the Supreme Court of Mexico. Its Regional Session for Europe focused on the challenges facing equal access to justice for all children in Europe and was an opportunity to reflect on the European standards and instruments in child justice.

Katrin Uerpmann - Secretary of the Steering Committee for the Rights of the Child - illustrated the work of the Council of Europe in the area of child-friendly justice focusing on the Guidelines on child-friendly justice as the most extensive set of standards. Attendees were provided with information about the upcoming studies on the protection of the best interests of the child in situations of parental separation and domestic care proceedings.

The HELP Programme (Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals) and its catalogue of 38 free online courses were presented by Eva Pastrana, Head of the Justice and Human Rights Training Division, Council of Europe. HELP online courses combine the European Union (EU) and Council of Europe (CoE) law and case-law and support (current and future) legal professionals to apply both systems in a practical and effective way. They are publicly available in the HELP online platform as self-study or tutored courses. Once completed (online duration between 2 and 10 hours) participants can obtain a digital and individualised ‘statement of accomplishment’.

The HELP Programme supports the implementation of the CoE Guidelines on child-friendly justice by offering the free online course on Child-friendly justice. Valentina Boz - HELP Project coordinator - illustrated the course objective and structure while highlighting that it is currently available as a self-study course in 14 languages. Moreover, 29 HELP tutored courses on Child-friendly justice have been implemented in 14 countries in cooperation with National Training Institutions for judges and prosecutors and Bar Associations.

Maria-Andriani Kostopoulou - Chair of the Steering Committee for the Rights of the Child, Council of Europe - presented the HELP online course on Refugee and migrant children. Children on the move are one of the most vulnerable groups in Europe and the HELP course illustrates how critical issues, such as alternative to detention, family reunification, guardianship and age assessment, are addressed by International and European legal frameworks. Moreover, she presented the HELP modules on protection of children from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse and on the rights of children in the digital environment.

Finally, Natasha Gaber-Damjanovska - Director of the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors of the Republic of North Macedonia - shared the Macedonian experience in the implementation of HELP online courses, including Child-friendly justice. Since they bring together International and European standards, but also the national legislation and Court practice, judges, prosecutors as well as candidates can highly benefit from their participation in HELP courses.

The HELP courses on Child-friendly Justice and Refugee and Migrant Children were also presented by Malika Smaali – HELP Project coordinator in Morocco in the World Congress session dedicated for the countries of the South of the Mediterranean. The two HELP Moroccan tutors Samir El Ghalmi and Rachid Meziane shared their own experience of national contextualisation and the partners’ interest in the HELP program and courses.

Online 17 November 2021
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