On January 20 and 21, 2022, the HELP at the meeting of EU contact points, organized online in the framework of the “HELP in the EU II” project of the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe (CoE), brought together more than 80 members of the HELP network, representatives of national institutions (NTI) for judges, prosecutors as well as National Bars and Law Societies (BAs) of EU Member States, HELP tutors and key stakeholders at EU level, but also beyond.
The meeting was opened by Arturo ArcanoDeputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Representation of Italy to the Council of Europe (CoE), who welcomed the participants and reflected on the relevance of human rights training for legal professionals in Europe , drawing inspiration from the exceptional results obtained in Italy through the use of HELP courses (. He also recalled the priorities of the Italian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the CoE.
Christophe Poirel, The Director of the Department of Human Rights, Human Rights and Rule of Law of the CoE, presented the EU-CoE HELP within the framework of the EU II project as an outstanding example of joint cooperation between the CoE and the EU, providing a unique platform for interaction between representatives of the legal professions (judges, prosecutors and lawyers) with the aim of better protecting human rights at national level. He expressed his gratitude for the support of the main allies of HELP, in particular the EU as a strong political and financial partner, as well as the project partners of EU Member States. He concluded by reiterating the importance of building a relationship of trust and cooperation with national partners in order to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge.
Ambassador Meglena Kuneva, The Head of the EU Delegation in Strasbourg, underlined the importance of judicial training as a valuable tool for disseminating and preserving common EU-CoE values and for promoting respect for human rights and the rule of law, giving new impetus to European democracy and labeling the HELP Program as a “global standard”.
Eva Pastrana, The Head of the Justice and Human Rights Division of the CoE presented recent HELP developments and initiatives, including those related to EU-funded projects and with partners such as the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN ), the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights or the UNHCR. She also informed the audience about the results of the EU-CoE project, implemented jointly with the European Confederation of Probation “Project for the prevention of radicalisation, judicial response to terrorism and international cooperation in criminal matters (ICCM)” , including the recently updated HELP course on ICCM. and a follow-up project proposal submitted jointly by the Council of Europe and the Italian Bar Council.
The main achievements of the EU-CoE HELP EU II project, which ends in February 2022, were presented to the participants by Ana-Maria Telbis, project coordinator. Impressively, over 1,200 participants signed up for over 53 tutorials launched during the project. Therefore, she underlined the effectiveness of the HELP methodology, reflected in the motivation of the participants as well as in the effectiveness of the training. Julen Fernandez ContéHELP Info Point for Spain and Head of the Brussels Office of the Spanish Bar Council (CGAE), focused on good practices learned from the training of lawyers in Spain and the use of HELP courses.
Thanks to the project, a new course on Ethics of judges, prosecutors and lawyers has been developed and already successfully translated and launched in several EU Member States. Five other courses have been updated: Asylum and ECHR, Fight against racism, xenophobia, homophobia and transphobia, Labor rights as human rights, Rights of people with disabilities. All courses were presented respectively in the follow-up session, by Nuria Diaz Abadcoordinator of the HELP course on ethics and former president of the ENC; Delphine LeneutreLegal Officer at the UNHCR Representation to the European Institutions in Strasbourg); Zeynep Usal Kanzler, of the Secretariat of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI); and Ana Maria Telbisproject coordinator who focused on the HELP courses on labor rights and on the rights of people with disabilities.
Participants who joined the HELP Network in recent months as Focal of Info Points had the opportunity to introduce themselves and share their impressions and expectations.
The first day ended with a session on HELP impact beyond the projectwith Ana Medarska Lazova and Valentina Boz of the HELP program showcasing results related to HELP courses developed under the project but implemented beyond the EU, as well as other HELP course actions/launch in EU Member States.
The second day began with a session on the integration of HELP courses into national training programs for judges, prosecutors and lawyerswith examples presented by Florence Gilbert, National School of MagistracyFrance; Laurent Pettiti, Delegation of the Bars of France (DBF) and HELP Info Point for France; Gianluca GrassoSSM, HELP focal point for Italy; John Pansini, CNF, HELP Info Point for Italy. Speakers shared applied models, good practices and lessons learned during the implementation/use of HELP courses. Several examples of the integration of HELP courses into other training offers of EU Member States for judges, prosecutors and lawyers were mentioned.
The morning continued with examples of cooperation with the EU and European partners to strengthen human rights training in EU Member States. Wojciech Postulskifrom DG JUST, European Commission, referred to the EU strategy on the training of legal professionals and focused on the European training platform; Sandra Aigner-AccardoProgram Officer, Technical Assistance and Capacity Building Unit, FRA, gave an overview of the resources developed by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency and Monica Marti GarciaSenior Project Manager, EJTN, presented the cooperation between the HELP program and the European Judicial Training Network.
Szymon Janczarekof the Department for the Execution of Judgments, CoE, Caroline Lasen Diazthe Office of the SRSG for Migration and Refugees, CoE, and Andriana Kostopouloumember of GREVIO and HELP information point for Greece, underlined the effectiveness the use of HELP courses to improve compliance with European standards at national level in their respective fields of work.
The last session was devoted to HELP plans for the future and discussion on the mapping of priorities for HELP activities in EU Member States. The activities planned under the EU-CoE project “HELP in the EU III”, starting from 1 March 2022, will take into consideration expressions of interest from various national partners for the launch of courses, at national and cross-border levels. A new course on the interaction between the ECHR and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights will be developed and several existing HELP courses will be updated, translated and adapted for launch. This will contribute to expanding the training offer of judges, prosecutors and lawyers in EU Member States with topics of interest and relevant to their professional context, with the aim of improving the effective application of European standards in human rights in the EU.
In their closing remarks, Eva Pastrana stressed the need for mutual trust and cooperation between HELP and its partners at national and European level.
During breaks, participants were able to view several presentation videos of HELP courses recently developed/updated with EU funding. The courses are all available on the Council of Europe’s HELP e-learning platform, containing over 40 courses translated into multiple languages that can be taken for free and in a self-paced format. Upon completion, participants can get a statement of achievement directly generated through the platform.
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