“Violence knows no borders, but neither does our empathy.” The words of one participant capture the spirit of this year's Regional Summer School in Trebinje better than any programme agenda ever could.
Inside a simulated courtroom, 30 law students from across the Western Balkans sit before a panel of legal experts. Some represent the applicant before the European Court of Human Rights, others the respondent state, while a third group serves as amicus curiae. They challenge one another’s arguments, cite case law of the European Court and defend their positions.
The case before them is based on the practice of the European Court. At its centre is a woman who was subjected to online harassment and did not receive adequate protection. The students must answer a difficult question: did the state fail to fulfil its obligation to prevent and address technology-facilitated violence against women?
What preceded the simulation were three days of lectures, animated discussions, legal debates over coffee, and long hours spent refining arguments. Students from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia brought different perspectives to the table, but quickly discovered that the challenges they were discussing were remarkably similar across the region.
Organised annually by the Council of Europe, the Regional Summer School introduces future legal professionals to the European human rights system and the work of the European Court of Human Rights. This year's programme focused on digital and sexual violence against women, with particular attention given to technology-facilitated violence and the protections provided by the European Convention on Human Rights and the Istanbul Convention.
Throughout the week, from 6 to 10 July 2026, participants explored cyberstalking, online harassment, doxing, the non-consensual sharing of intimate images and AI-generated deepfake content. They examined the Court's evolving case-law and the positive obligations of states to prevent, investigate and prosecute violence against women, applying these standards to realistic legal scenarios.
The Regional Summer School was organised as part of the Council of Europe projects Support to a Coherent National Implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights and Facilitating Execution of European Court of Human Rights Judgments in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Phase II and Strengthening Bosnia and Herzegovina's Responses to Digital and Sexual Violence against Women, in cooperation with the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye and the following actions: Strengthening Human Rights Protection in Serbia, Towards a Consolidated and More Efficient Free Legal Aid System in North Macedonia, Strengthening Accountability of the Judicial System and Enhancing Protection of Victims’ Rights in Montenegro, Strengthening the capacities of the Albanian judiciary to better apply standards on the right to liberty and security - funded by the Human Rights Trust Fund (HRTF) which brings together eight Council of Europe member states: Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom - and Enhancing Judicial Protection of Human Rights (Kosovo*).
* All reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.
