On April 11-12, 2024, representatives of the Department for the Implementation of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) of the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights took part in the off-line training workshop implemented as part of the training course on “Preventing ill-treatment”. This training is the joint initiative of two Council of Europe projects  – “Supporting Implementation of the European Human Rights Standards in Ukraine” and "HELP (Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals) for Ukraine, including during wartime."

The participants got acquainted with the standards of ill-treatment prevention in the light of Article 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as well as specifics of assessing and finding human rights violations in places of deprivation of liberty based on the examples of applications lodges before the ECtHR.

Under the request of the participantі, the workshop aimed at identification of the models for the efficient realisation of the NPM’s mandate that integrate standards of ill-treatment prevention and ECHR case-law on the national level. The participants discussed the implementation of new methods and approaches in the work of the NPM Department, including the preparation of analytical materials on identified human rights violations in places of deprivation of liberty, as well as recommendations for the authorities regarding the remedial measures that need be implemented. 

Particular focus of the workshop was made on issues of ill-treatment and human rights violations in places of deprivation of liberty related to private life, health care, and respect for the rights of women and minors. The issue of limits of responsibility of decision-making officials was also raised.

The trainers presented the participants the available ECtHR electronic resources, which can be useful in the practical work of the NPM Department, namely the HUDOC database.

The trainers are national consultants of the Council of Europe, Sergiy Zayets, a lawyer with significant experience in applying to the European Court of Human Rights (representing over 150 applicants before the ECtHR), the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Committee against Torture (CAT), the Committee on Racial Discrimination (CERD), and a trainer for several human rights education programs, and Natalya Hurkovska, a lawyer with 28 years of experience and significant experience in applying to the ECtHR, a human rights defender, and a certified trainer of the HELP program.