On 3 May 2017 the European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) and UNHCR launched a course on Asylum and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in an event which took place in Barcelona for judges, prosecutors and lawyers. The event was organised jointly with the Spanish Judiciary School with the objective of facilitating the application of key provisions of the ECHR and other international standards in the field of asylum, particularly related to the prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment, “non-refoulement”, effective remedies and family reunification.

Despite the fact that the ECHR does not provide for a right to asylum, a number of key provisions of the ECHR and the relevant case-law of the European Court of Human Rights provide protection for the rights of asylum seekers. The HELP/UNHCR course aims at facilitating the application of the ECHR by judges, prosecutors and lawyers in Spain, bearing in mind that  Spain is also bound by the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights, which includes the right to asylum. The course also took into consideration the EU dimension, including, when relevant, the EU-Turkey joint statement.