Back Judicial dialogue, increased lawyers’ capacities discussed at launching event of new project to support the Constitutional Court of Kosovo*

Judicial dialogue, increased lawyers’ capacities discussed at launching event of new project to support the Constitutional Court of Kosovo*

More than 100 judges and legal practitioners from Kosovo* gathered in a conference dedicated to judicial protection of human rights, inaugurating a new cycle of the Council of Europe project aimed at supporting the Constitutional Court of Kosovo* in applying and disseminating European human rights standards.

The event featured prominent speakers from Kosovo* and abroad, including: the President of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo*, the President of the Supreme Court, the President of the Appellate Court, the President of the Bar Association, as well as a judge of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia, a specialist from the European Court of Human Rights, other European legal practitioners, officials of the Council of Europe, and civil society representatives.

In the opening and two thematic sessions, fruitful discussions developed around ways of promoting individual access to the Constitutional Court as an effective remedy to human rights violations, while strengthening the role of courts of general jurisdiction in ensuring human rights protection.

More specifically, participants discussed admissibility criteria to the Constitutional Court in the light of the recently completed “Practical Guide on Admissibility Criteria for Individual Applications to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo*,” which was developed in the first phase of the same project and will be disseminated within the legal community in the weeks to come.

Guest speakers presented principles and working methods guiding the European Court of Human Rights, and the Constitutional Courts of Slovenia and Spain – especially when confronted with large number of referrals – whereas lawyers and civil society representatives analysed the reasons behind current inadmissibility of many individual applications before the Constitutional Court.

Hence, the conference provided a platform for reviewing the role of regular courts and lawyers in applying human rights standards set in the European Convention on Human Rights, which is directly applicable and forms integral part of the domestic legal order by virtue of the Constitution of Kosovo*.

The project will carry on with a series of workshops targeting lawyers, in cooperation with all regional branches of the Kosovo* Bar Association, with a view to briefing them on admissibility criteria to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo*, and to further disseminate knowledge about European human rights.

 


 

 

* All references to Kosovo, whether the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations' Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.

Pristina 23 April 2024
  • Diminuer la taille du texte
  • Augmenter la taille du texte
  • Imprimer la page
Fifty practitioners to enhance skills in provision of occupational therapy

Following the adoption of the Guidelines for Occupational Therapy (OT), as well as the Training of Trainers (ToT) on OT that took place in January 2024, three 2-day cascade training sessions were organised in the course of February and March 2024.  Fifty professionals, mainly from the Prison Health Department, along with representatives from the Correctional Services, Institute for Forensic Psychiatry, and the Special Institute for Persons with Mental and Physical Disabilities, were trained on this important form of therapy.

To complement the theoretical aspects and provide the trainees with practical knowledge, some of the sessions were conducted in the Dubrava Prison, in a section which houses prisoners with both mental and somatic problems. This on-site training allowed the participants to observe and understand the application of OT principles in a real-life setting, thus enhancing their learning experience by connecting theory and practice.

These cascade training sessions allowed the participants to further improve their skills in applying the OT Guidelines and tools in prisons and other closed institutions, a concept which was thus far not utilised in a structured manner. Furthermore, training healthcare and correctional professionals together helps them further strengthen the inter-institutional cooperation in the treatment and rehabilitation of some of the most vulnerable members of the society.

Each of these sessions were facilitated by two trainers who had participated in the ToT in January and were supervised and mentored by a Council of Europe consultant who has been involved in the process since the very beginning, thus further strengthening institutional capacity to provide training.

The activity was conducted under the auspices of the Council of Europe project “Improvement of the treatment of persons deprived of liberty”.

 

 

*All references to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions, or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with United National Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.

Istog/ Istok 26 March 2024
  • Diminuer la taille du texte
  • Augmenter la taille du texte
  • Imprimer la page