In the week marking 10 December, the International Day of Human Rights, the Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) course on combating hate speech and hate crime was promoted in Skopje. The course will be available in the Macedonian language for the first time.

In co-operation with the Bar Association of North Macedonia, this course will soon begin to be implemented with lawyers and legal professionals, who will be the first group to listen to this course in Macedonian language.

The participants were greeted by Jelena Ristikj, vice-president of the Bar Association, who gave them a brief overview of the course and the implementation, while Marija Andreeva, Project Officer in the Council of Europe Programme Office in Skopje, presented the joint European Union/Council of Europe action “Combating hatred and intolerance in North Macedonia” and its achievements and results. Jasminka Perunicic – Allen, Project Officer of HELP in Western Balkans elaborated on the HELP platform and the various courses and results.

The event was also a good opportunity for lawyers and legal professionals to discuss further about the state of play of hate speech and hate crime in the country, most notably the legal framework.

The HELP Course on hate speech and hate crime is a joint initiative of the action “Combating hatred and intolerance in North Macedonia”, part of the European Union and Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” programme, and the European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP).