Several needs assessment visits to pilot bar associations have been held under the Project. Council of Europe’s experts together with Project staff and representatives from Union of Turkish Bar Association [https://www.barobirlik.org.tr/] visited pilot bar associations in Diyarbakir, Mersin, Izmir, Istanbul, Trabzon, Ankara and Van. They met and interviewed advocates as well as members of human right centres of these bar associations, their management and representatives of NGOs.
The needs assessments were held in two dimensions: trainings and institutional capacities of the human right centres (HRCs) of the respective bar associations.
Following these visits a report on the training needs will be prepared. It will contain findings on the training needs of lawyers, methodologies to be used in drafting training modules and organising training sessions in local bar associations. This report will help to develop training modules (for pre-service, in-service trainings and online course), which will be based on COE HELP courses [http://help.elearning.ext.coe.int/].
The report on the training needs will be also used for an Action Plan development. This Action Plan will also contain the findings and recommendations following the needs assessment of the institutional capacities of the HRCs in the pilot bars. It will also include the activities to be implemented for establishment and proper functioning of the HRCs as well as the resources, time framework and responsibilities of partners for each activity under the Project.
The experts involved in needs assessment and representatives of the pilot bars, UTBA and Council of Europe will work on draft regulations for the HRCs on the basis of the reported findings. These regulations should provide consolidated legal framework applicable for all local bar associations in relation to structure, organization, functioning, responsibilities, staffing and financial aspects of the HRCs.
