Site news

New E-learning course on fair trial and police incitement.

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:40:06 CET

by Hermine Masmeyer.

In the section 'Criminal law' of the E-learning programme (in the top left menu-box on the homepage) you can find a new case study on the judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court Ramanauskas v. Lithuania of 5 February 2008.

What are the limitations to the use of special investigative methods to prevent that they entail police incitement?
How to assess the admissibility of evidence resulting from police incitement in criminal proceedings?

You will find an answer to these questions in this course.

ECHR blog and new materials on the site! Основные идеи EKПЧ по-русски

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:41:00 CET

by Hermine Masmeyer.

Antoine Buyse is researcher/lecturer at the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) of the Utrecht University. He writes an ECHR blog, commenting on case law of the European Court on Human Rights and other human rights issues. You can find a link to his blog in the second box in the left column of the homepage.

Professor Alexander Zenin (Russian Academy of Justice) kindly puts at your disposal a Russian translation of large parts of the Course outline key concepts "Основные идеи Европейской Конвенции по Правам Человека". Chapters 2.2.2-3.10 are not covered by the translation. You can find this document in the box at the left top of the homepage in "Choose outline>>Key concepts".

We have also updated the course outline on fair trial in criminal law and included links to all relevant case-law and the HELP case studies. This course outline can be found in the box at the left top of the homepage in "Choose outline>>Criminal law" or in "Choose article>>Article 6".

If you have any materials to share with other human rights trainers please do not hesitate to contact me (Hermine Masmeyer). You can find my e-mail address at the bottom of the homepage.

Article 3 in criminal cases; course for self study

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:38:24 CET

by Hermine Masmeyer.

Do you know the Gafgen case? A police officer threatened a suspect with violence, to save the life of a kidnapped child. If you take this course you will learn in how far Article 3 justifies this approach to solve crimes or to protect people's lifes. The course is designed for self study. You will find an overview of general principles and links to relevant case law of the European Court and legal texts. In the top left drop down menu's on the homepage you will find the course under 'Article 3', Themes/Searching and gathering evidence and in the E-learning programme in 'Criminal law'.

New materials on the site!

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:31:31 CEST

by Hermine Masmeyer.

We are very pleased that we received contributions to our collection of materials from a number of experts. We hope you appreciate the materials!

Professor Douwe Korff (Professor of international law of the London Metropolitan University) put to your disposal documents (in English) on International Standards in criminal procedures and an outline on the application of the UN Convention Against Torture (under Article 6 and in Themes/fair trial in the left upper box on the homepage). His 'Standard approach of the articles 2, 8, 9, 10 and 11' is displayed under the corresponding Articles in the same box.

We also have two new power point presentations in Russian on Article 3 and Article 5.

In 'Methodology' (also in the left upper box) you will find the full text of the Manual on training methodology translated into French, German, Russian and Serbian.

Please find new versions or new translations of the handbooks on Article 2 in Montenegrin and Turkish, Article 6 in English, French and Serbian, Article 9 in Serbian and Turkish, Protocol 1, Article 1 in Montenegrin and 'positive obligations' in Turkish.

Last but not least we received the contributions of the participants of Themis 2008:

The National Institute of Magistracy of Romania (NIM), in cooperation with the Portuguese Judicial Studies Centre (CEJ) and with the support of the Council of Europe's Lisbon Network and the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN), organised the third edition of the THEMIS Competition, an international event especially addressed to trainees of all European magistracy training institutions and schools from 22 to 26 September 2008 in Bucharest (Romania). 17 teams from 15 European countries participated in the competition. The contributions regarding the application of the ECHR are now on line:
- Montenegro and Portugal submitted papers and power point presentations on the application of Article 6 in their country;
- Finland submitted a paper on the hearing of children in criminal procedures and Article 6;
- Bulgaria submitted a paper on challenges for Bulgarian judges in the application of Article 5 and
- Romania submitted a paper and a power point presentation on the Margin of appreciation.

All Themis contributions are displayed under the relevant articles in the drop down menu in the left upper box on the homepage. Romania's contribution can be found under themes/general introduction.

If you have any materials to share with other human rights trainers please do not hesitate to contact me (Hermine Masmeyer). You can find my e-mail address at the bottom of the homepage.

First instructional video on the HELP website!

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:57:56 CEST

by Hermine Masmeyer.

The Judicial Studies Board of the United Kingdom kindly put to your disposal an instructional video about a court session in a domestic violence case. The video contains 11 scenes. After each screen, the video will automatically pause and display a question screen. You will find the video and instructions for the trainer in the left upper box on the homepage, in the drop down menu themes/domestic violence.

New course outlines on Article 5

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:30:45 CEST

by Hermine Masmeyer.

Two course outlines on Article 5 are now available on line! Article 5 gave rise to many complaints resulting in a large number of judgments of the European Court on Human Rights. We created two course outlines for you: the first course outline covers all aspects of pre-trial detention. The second part covers all other forms of detention under Article 5 ECHR.

You can find the course outlines in the drop down menu 'Article 5', in the drop down menu 'Course outlines' in 'criminal law'. We also display the second outline in the drop down menu 'themes' in the relevant themes (immigration and mental health care).

In the documents you will find direct links to all relevant case law of the European Court on Human Rights. If you open the documents in Microsoft Internet Explorer you might need to download the documents for the links to be fully operationable. You should not encounter any problems using Mozilla Firefox.

New E-learning course on Article 3.

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:22:21 CEST

by Hermine Masmeyer.

We used our summer to create a new E-learning course for you! In the drop down menu 'E-learning programme' in the top left box on the homepage you will now find E-learning courses, organised per field of law. In the fields 'constitutional law', 'criminal law' and 'administrative law' you will find the new course on Article 3.

You might remember we launched our first series of E-learning courses earlier this year. These courses provide case studies on Grand Chamber judgments of the European Court. The course on Article 3 is different. You will find a series of lessons. The lessons 'Basics' and 'Evidence and the burden of proof' provide a general introduction to Article 3. Special files deal with specific topics, for example detention, immigration or balancing rights. You will find a range of different learning activities, quizzes and questions. We hope you provide us with you feedback in the forum in the last box of the course. You can also send an email to Hermine Masmeyer (you can find her email address on the bottom of the 'Welcome' text on the homepage).

Evaluation ECHR E-learning courses.

Tue, 13 May 2008 17:35:01 CEST

by Hermine Masmeyer.

After the launch of the first series of E-learning courses earlier this year members of the European Human Rights Training Network agreed to test and evaluate the courses. You can find some of the results of this evaluation on this website in 'Help Programme'/'General information'. The results and the future HELP E-learning Programme will be discussed in a plenary meeting of the Network on 26 May in Strasbourg.

New materials on the site!

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:24:04 CEST

by Hermine Masmeyer.

The International Centre for Migration Policy Development kindly puts at your disposal the “Anti-Trafficking Training Materials for Judges and Prosecutors in EU member states and Accession and Candidate Countries”. The materials comprise a Background Reader, a Handbook and a Curriculum-Training Guide. You will find the materials in the drop down menu 'Themes', 'Anti-trafficking' in the menu box at the top left of the homepage.

Launch of the HELP E-learning programme

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 14:17:53 CET

by Hermine Masmeyer.

At present, 4 E-learning courses have been developed, based on Grand Chamber judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. The courses contain a method to analyse the relevant facts and legal issues in a judgment. The courses have been developed for human rights trainers but would also be of interest for legal professionals. The learner will acquire a deeper understanding of the reasoning of the Court and will be aware of other possible ways to reason (for example by analysing concurring and dissenting opinions). Each course ends with a block ‘having fun with argument’, in which the facts of the case are slightly altered, in order to discuss whether or not the outcome of the case would change. This means the course is not merely about memorising and understanding the judgment but also about developing the skill of reasoning, and being able to apply the underlying principles in other situations.

The courses are interactive: quizzes and assignments activate the learner and involve him/her in the learning process. A trainer can do the courses on line on an individual basis or download all elements of the courses and use them in a traditional class room off line training.