The Council of Europe has launched an updated version of its free online “Introduction to the European Convention on Human Rights”, a 5-hour interactive training course aimed at legal professionals, public authorities, civil society and students.

“Europe has the strongest system of international human rights protection anywhere in the world, thanks to the European Convention on Human Rights. For the system to fulfil its potential, we need lawyers, judges, government officials, NGOs and other professionals across Europe to learn how it functions and to use that knowledge in their daily work,” said Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić.

The updated course is part of the Council of Europe’s extensive HELP programme of Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals.

It contains modules on the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights and – for the first time – the execution of judgments from the Strasbourg court, which is essential in helping to raise human rights standards.

An initial version of the course was developed in 2016 and is now available in 17 different languages.

It has so far been followed by over 5,700 professionals and has also been included in training curricula at judiciary schools in various countries including Spain and the Republic of Moldova.

The updated course is now available in English, with several other language versions due to be released in the coming months.

The course has been partly produced with the financial support of the European Union, as part of the EU/Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II”.

The latest annual report on the execution of judgments from the European Court of Human Rights is due to be published on Wednesday 1 April.

Useful links:

• Impact of the European Convention on Human Rights
• European Court of Human Rights
• Department for the Execution of ECHR Judgments

Directorate of Communications

Council of Europe