The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights and its regional partners (the Human Rights Center of the University of Sarajevo, the Croatian Helsinki Committee in Zagreb and the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights in Podgorica (CEDEM)) have been successfully cooperating in 2002 on this project. The goal of the project was re-education of the rule of law, human rights and humanitarian law to a target group of law professionals who were subject to a system of education that did not provide them with an opportunity to be properly introduced to the international promotion and protection of human rights. Participants were members of the legal profession including lawyers active in various branches of government, the judiciary, and representatives of private practice active in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia.Participants were selected for their direct involvement in human rights protection as “guardians” of the rule of law, and as the best future multipliers of knowledge (i.e. lecturers, course organisers, university professors or alternative-education trainers). In 2003 seminars aimed to present the rights proclaimed by the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR).
In this phase of the project five regional seminars were organised in all countries of the region (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia). Each seminar lasted five days and introduced between 20 and 30 target group representatives to the right to a fair trial, the right to liberty and security, the right to peaceful enjoyment of property, the prohibition of discrimination and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
The Belgrade Centre provided the programme for the seminars on human rights. It was designed to meet the pre-assessed needs of the participants, as well as the recommendations received during the first phase of the project. In each programme, active participation was promoted by a balance between lectures, case studies, panel discussions and moot courts.
Participants had the opportunity to hear lectures by judges in the Norwegian Supreme Court, law experts for the European Court of Human Rights, Judicial officers from the Independent Judicial Commission, the Human Rights Ombudsman for Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc. These experts provided the application of law aspect of these rights, sharing their experiences in applying the ECHR on an everyday basis.
Regional aspects of each right were presented by experts from Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, allowing each group to exchange experiences and ideas and discuss potential solutions applicable in the region.
The success of the project was evaluated through questionnaires distributed at each seminar. The overall conclusion is satisfaction with the seminar and the lecturers (international and national), the duration of the seminar, and its organisation. Respondents saw the introduction of human rights standards to legal professionals as the best base for a solid, permanent solution. Participants concluded that although their legal systems are different, they all encounter the same problems in the field of prohibition of discrimination. Their recommendations most frequently addressed their interest in more in-depth aspects of the application of the ECHR, a need for more panel discussions and moot court sessions, as well as their desire to hear from more regional experts.
Project web page http://www.seelawyers.net has been updated and maintained during the whole project in five languages (Bosnian, Croatian, Macedonian, Serbian and English). The web page provides information about the project since its beginning (programs, lists of participants, materials and documents) but also other information relevant for the human rights practitioners, links to the most useful web pages dealing with human rights issues and links to the partner organizations.
