“Legal Education in the Field of Freedom of Expression in Ukraine” project

The Council of Europe Project “Legal Education in the Field of Freedom of Expression in Ukraine” was launched on 15 February 2021 and will be implemented over four months. The Project is funded by the voluntarily contribution of the Government of Flanders in the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine for 2018-2022. The Project’s total budget is EUR 65.936.

The project aims to increase knowledge of the Ukrainian law students about issues of international and European human rights law, such as safety of journalists, freedom of association, negative and positive obligations in this area by means of tailored training session as well as improve relations and cooperation between media actors and judiciary (issues of ethical journalism, obligation of fact-checking while reporting on cases in domestic courts) by the means of supporting the dialogue and providing recommendations.

The project will complement other ongoing Council of Europe co-operation programmes in Ukraine in the field of freedom of expression and judicial reforms.

The Project’s expected results are:

  • Better interaction between media and judicial authorities created, contributing to legitimacy and impartiality of the judiciary and better communication with public.
  • Knowledge of lawyers and young legal professionals on issues related to freedom of expression, defamation and safety of journalists is further improved.
  • New tools for better interaction of media and judiciary and lawyers' understanding of issues related to freedom of expression in line with the Council of Europe standards are developed and available to stakeholders.

The key partners of the Project are the Supreme Court of Ukraine, the National Academy of Internal Affairs, Kyiv Taras Shevchenko University (Law Faculty), Lviv Catholic University (Law Faculty), National School of Judges (NSJ) of Ukraine, Lviv Regional Office of the National School of Judges, Odessa Regional Office of the School of Judges, NGO “Institute of Mass Information”.