Lawyers play a pivotal role in ensuring equal access to justice and protection of fundamental human rights, especially when providing free legal aid to those in need. To strengthen this mission, two cascade training sessions were held on 5 and 6 December 2024, focused on enhancing the skills of more then 20 lawyers who are currently providing secondary legal aid for the citizens of North Macedonia, equipping them with practical tools to address different legal challenges.
Organised under the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe, “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye,” and in collaboration with the North Macedonia Bar Association and its Training Centre, the initiative aims to contribute in the process of ensuring efficient, accessible, and professional provision of Free Legal Aid services in North Macedonia, in line with European standards and best practices.
During the sessions, the lawyers were equipped with relevant knowledge on free legal aid through practical exercises and case studies. This hands-on approach ensured that the participants could apply theoretical concepts to real-life scenarios effectively. The trained trainers demonstrated their newly acquired skills from the ToT program, working under the expert mentorship of local consultants Ms Bojana Netkova and Ms Maja Atanasova.
The training sessions were based on the curricula developed by Council of Europe consultants in 2023 and was delivered by two experienced trainers who had previously undergone an intensive Training of Trainers sessions held in January/February 2024 with the support of the Horizontal Facility programme.
In 2024, more than 70 lawyers in total were trained on provision of FLA through these trainings, and 42 lawyers were trained on ethics. In addition, in 2023, 100 lawyers completed the course on Justice for children, while 53 lawyers successfully finished the course on Violence against women and domestic violence. These specialised trainings and tailored programs enabled the lawyers to effectively respond to the increased number of applications following the awareness raising initiative conducted under the previous and current phase of the Action.
These training sessions were organised in co-operation with the North Macedonia Bar Association with the support of the EU and Council of Europe joint action “Towards a consolidated and more efficient Free Legal Aid (FLA) system in North Macedonia”, in co-operation with the North Macedonia Bar Association.
