On 23 September, the Council of Europe HELP tutored course on “International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights” was launched in Kyiv by the Council of Europe Projects “HELP (Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals) for Ukraine, including during wartime” and “Fostering Human Rights in the Criminal Justice System in Ukraine” in cooperation with the National School of Judges, the Prosecutor`s Training Center of Ukraine, Higher School of Advocacy and Coordination Center for Legal Aid Provision.
More than 70 persons including judges, prosecutors and lawyers including lawyers of free legal aid system are taking part in this training course.
The new HELP course presents a legal framework that is applied in situations of armed conflict and is aimed at limiting the consequences of armed conflicts and preventing human rights violations. The peculiarity of the course is the interplay between two branches of law, namely international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL).
Among the main objectives of the course are:
- to help legal professionals better understand the legal framework of international humanitarian law applicable to situations of armed conflict and occupation;
- learn about related standards of international human rights law, in particular the European Convention on Human Rights, the application of which does not cease in the event of armed conflict;
- understand how the two branches of law interact and apply.
Opening the launch, Maciej Janczak, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine said: “Considering the ongoing aggression of the Russian Federation, there is a strong need for training of European legal professionals including judges, prosecutors, investigators, lawyers, academics and students on International Humanitarian Law, which is the legal framework applicable to situations of armed conflict and occupation and which aims, for humanitarian reasons, to limit the effects of the said conflict and related standards of the international human rights law, and in particular the ECHR, as the protection it affords does not cease in the case of armed conflict”.
The launch of the course was opened by Olesia Otradnova, Director of the Prosecutor`s Training Center of Ukraine; Tamara Zakrevska, Deputy Head of the Training of Trainers (Teachers) Department of the National School of Judges of Ukraine; Valentyn Gvozdiy, Vice-President of the Ukrainian National Bar Association the Bar Council of Ukraine; Oleksandr Baranov, Head of the Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision; Ana-Maria Telbis, Head of Justice and Human Rights Training Division, Department for the Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Standards of Legal Cooperation, Directorate General for Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI), Council of Europe.
The HELP course "International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights” has been adapted to the Ukrainian national legal system and context by HELP tutors, experienced experts Oksana Tsarevych, Judge of the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv; Iryna Hloviuk, member of the Scientific Advisory Council at the Supreme Court, member of the Board of the UNBA Committee on Criminal Law and Procedure Dmytro Lotiuk, Head of Analytical Department of the Prosecutors' Training Center of Ukraine; Iryna Bartsytska, Head of the Division of International Legal Cooperation of the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol.
Mykola Gnatovskyy, judge of the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Ukraine covered in his speech the current role of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights in Ukraine and in the world.
Within the launch Romaric Ferraro, Head of Legal Department, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) made a presentation about the relevance of the Geneva Conventions 75 years after their adoption.
The challenges in prosecution of war crimes and other international crimes in the context of Russian aggression against Ukraine were presented by Stanislav Petrenko, Head of operational and methodology Division of the Department for Countering Crimes Committed in the Armed Conflict, Prosecutor General's Office.
In the end, Natalia Antoniuk, Deputy Head of Cassation Criminal Court in the Supreme Court presented the actual issues of the International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Law in the Relevant case law in Ukraine.
This HELP course was developed in 2024 by the Council of Europe HELP programme, within the framework of the Project "HELP (Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals) for Ukraine, including during wartime".
The course will be available in Ukrainian language on 1 October 2024.
The HELP course on International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights for self-learning is available on the HELP Platform. New users to the HELP platform will have to create an account before accessing this course or any of the over 56 online courses developed by the Council of Europe and available in self-learning format. Currently, 16126 Ukrainian lawyers have accounts on the HELP eLearning Platform, putting Ukraine on the third place according to the number of users among the 46 Council of Europe member states. Currently, 35 HELP courses are available in Ukrainian on the CoE HELP E-learning Platform, and the full catalogue of HELP courses is available here.
