The European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals in the 28 (“HELP in the 28”) - First Annual meeting for Focal and Info Points

Strasbourg, 6 November 2015

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to welcome you at the first annual meeting organised under the European Programme on Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals in the 28, otherwise known as “HELP in the 28.”

Let me recall at the outset that HELP is the only genuine PAN-European Programme of legal education. As you are aware, HELP in the 28 is part of a larger Network composed of national training institutions and bar associations of all 47 Member States of the Council of Europe.

In the last few years, HELP has been growing stronger and has widened its scope. Initially, the programme was only supposed to include the areas covered by the European Convention on Human Rights. It now goes far beyond to include numerous other instruments of the Council of Europe. New courses are being developed as a response to an increasing number of challenges faced by our societies.

HELP accordingly tends to become the main vehicle for all legal training activities pursued by our Organisation. Its political relevance was already mentioned in the 2012 Brighton Declaration. It was more vigorously reiterated by the Brussels Declaration adopted at the latest Ministerial Conference in March this year. The Brussels Declaration heavily insisted on our shared responsibility in the implementation of the Convention. Needless to say, this responsibility is not only shared among State authorities, but also among training institutions that shape the authorities’ actions and decisions on a day-to-day basis.
 

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Ladies and Gentlemen,

The present meeting is the first one that involves exclusively representatives from national training institutions and bar associations from the EU countries. Our aim is to update you on where we stand and what are our plans for the future. We will also discuss how you can support us to spread information and opportunities of "HELP in the 28" in your respective countries.

We all share the view that legal education is a key tool to build a common culture of human rights and support legal professionals in their role as guardians of human rights. National judges, prosecutors and lawyers are at the frontline of the defense of human rights. For this very reason, they are the main interlocutors of the Council of Europe. This explains our increasing support for high-quality legal training and, therefore, the increasing attention paid to HELP Programme within our Organisation.

The same goes for the EU, which is the main funder of “HELP in the 28”. In 2011 the EU Commission set the target that half of all legal practitioners in the EU (some 700.000 people) should have attended training in European law, including on human rights.

The Council of Europe has become a natural partner in this process: in 2014, the EU Directorate General Justice entrusted the biggest training project on fundamental rights in all EU member states to the Council of Europe. This decision gave birth to “HELP in the 28". We agree that the Council of Europe is particularly well placed to implement those activities and look forward to continuing our cooperation with the EU.

The objective of “HELP in the 28” is to assist legal professionals in the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Social Charter and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in their daily work. Most complaints on human rights should effectively be resolved at the national level without reaching the European Courts in Luxemburg and Strasbourg. For this, judges, prosecutors and lawyers need to master the legislation but also be aware of the rapid development of the case-law of the both highest European Courts.

Under "HELP in the 28", four courses are being developed in line with priorities identified for the EU member states:

1. Fight against racism, xenophobia, homophobia and transphobia
2. Data protection and privacy rights
3. Labour rights
4. Right of integrity of a person, focused on bioethics

I will not yet elaborate on all those topics. My colleagues from the relevant departments will explain to you their contents and update you on law and policy developments on the CoE and EU side. I would just briefly highlight that the identification of these priorities responds to societal developments in the EU which are closely reflected in judgments delivered in Strasbourg and Luxemburg.

Once these courses are adapted to the national legal systems within the EU, we expect them to be integrated into the training programmes of the national training institutions and bar associations.

In addition, two highly topical courses are planned to be included in “HELP in the 28”: a course on Asylum and ECHR and a course on Hate Crime and Hate Speech. Two other new courses will be created in response to pressing challenges in Europe: a course on prevention of radicalisation and yet another one on crime victims' rights.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Before I conclude, I would like to emphasise two other important facts about HELP – the quality of its courses and their adaptability.

The quality of the HELP courses does not only lie in its methodology - blending e-learning and face-to-face sessions - but also in the unique pool of professionals participating in their elaboration. I am pleased to see some of them attending our today’s meeting, including those who will speak on behalf of the Council of Europe and our partner organisations, such as the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN) and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI).

HELP is fully adaptable to the changing needs of legal professional in all your countries. The programme can assist you by creating pools of national trainers, creating "à la carte" or tailor-made courses adapted to your national legal systems and presented in your national languages. The programme pays special attention to the identification of future challenges and priorities in legal education and training. I can assure you that the Council of Europe will strengthen its efforts to anticipate new legal issues in our member States that we identify through our unique judicial and monitoring mechanisms.
 

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I would like to conclude by emphasizing the special role you play in our Programme. To achieve our goals, we need your proactive involvement in your respective countries but also a trustful cooperation among yourselves and your institutions. Indeed, HELP cannot and should not replace the activities of the national training institutions, but we are here to support you in your efforts. I encourage you, as the main actors of legal training in the EU, to make full use of the HELP resources and thus to benefit from best practices developed across Europe.

We would like you to become HELP Ambassadors back home in your respective countries and institutions. Our two most proactive Focal and Info Points will share with you their experience later in the day. They will demonstrate that the success of "HELP in the 28" and its network depends on the combined efforts of each of us. I trust this will be a bright evidence of our shared responsibility for effective implementation of human rights at the national level.

I wish you a fruitful day and successful cooperation under “HELP in the 28”.