What is the goal?

As part of the Council of Europe Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals, the Action “HELP in the Western Balkans” contributes to a better protection of fundamental rights at the national and regional level. The overall goal is to help legal professionals - who are at the forefront of the protection of human rights - to gain a better understanding of fundamental human rights standards, and of how to apply these standards in their daily work. The Action involves the National Training Institutions for judges and prosecutors, as well as Bar Associations from the Western Balkans in the broader HELP Network, which covers the 47 member States of the Council of Europe, and beyond.

Who benefits from the project?

Legal and other (justice) professionals from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia are benefiting from HELP Action, offering a wide range of online courses on various human rights topics. The courses are open to law students/future practitioners via the HELP e-learning platform, can be adapted to local contexts, and tailored for both practitioners and trainers.

How will the Action  work?

In cooperation with key local actors, HELP develops and implements a variety of online courses focusing on the fundamental human rights for legal and other (justice) professionals. The courses provide high quality and European best practices as they have been developed with leading experts from the Council of Europe, including lawyers from the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights.

The courses are interactive and practical, aiming to enhance practitioners’ knowledge, skills and attitudes in regard to European fundamental human rights standards and how these standards should be applied in concrete situations. The HELP methodologies are easily adapted to Beneficiaries’ legislation & context. The regional dimension provides an opportunity for training institutions to share best practices on human rights methodology. Moreover, it facilitates the regional exchange of knowledge on fundamental rights standards among legal professionals.

What do we expect to achieve?

The Action ‘HELP in the Western Balkans’ contributes in a more efficient and effective application of fundamental rights standards at the local level by:

•  enhancing the capacity of legal professionals for an effective and coherent application of European standards for the protection of fundamental human rights in their daily work;
• strengthening the capacity of local actors such as national training institutions for judges and prosecutors, Bar Associations and universities to provide high quality training in the field.

How much will it cost?

• the total budget of the Action is 800.000 EUR;
•  the budget allocated to the overall Horizontal Facility programme amounts to ca. 41 million EUR (85% funded by the European Union, 15% by the Council of Europe)

How do we get more information?

•  Council of Europe HELP e-learning platform: help.elearaning.ext.coe.int   
•  Council of Europe Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP): website: www.coe.int/help 
• Horizontal Facility website: https://pjp-eu.coe.int/en/web/horizontal-facility/home 
•  Marija Simić, Horizontal Facility Communication Officer, Marija.SIMIC@coe.int, +381 63 601 337
• Besnik Baka, Horizontal Facility Communication Officer, Besnik.Baka@coe.int, +355 69 217 8430