On 3-4 July 2025, a delegation from the National Institute of Justice participated in the Annual HELP Network Conference and the third meeting of the Regional Network of Judicial Training Institutions from the Eastern Partnership, held in Strasbourg, France.
The HELP Conference, organised under the auspices of the Maltese Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, brought together representatives of judicial training institutions from Council of Europe member states, as well as development partners of the HELP Programme. The NIJ delegation included Ecaterina Popa, Head of the Training and Research Department, Octavian Bivol, Head of the Continuous Training Section, and Olga Marandici, NIJ trainer.
The event provided a platform for exchanging experiences and best practices related to the integration of HELP courses into national training programmes, the digitalisation of legal education, and the strengthening of multilateral cooperation in the field of human rights education. Discussions also covered topics such as the gender dimension in training, the use of HELP courses in universities, and the role of training in supporting the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, in line with commitments made under the Reykjavik Declaration. Special attention was given to the HELP project in Ukraine, including the launch of a training course on the deportation of children during armed conflicts. The agenda also featured presentations of new e-learning courses (“Mental Health and Human Rights,” “Abolition of the Death Penalty,” “Child Protection against Sexual Exploitation,” “Human Rights and Drug Use”), updates to existing courses on non-discrimination and business and human rights, as well as workshops focused on digital training methods, sustainable training, and non-legal competences in professional education.
On the afternoon of 4 July, NIJ representatives attended the meeting of the Regional Network of Judicial Training Institutions under the project aimed at improving women’s access to justice, implemented as part of the EU–CoE Joint Programme “Partnership for Good Governance – Phase III.” The meeting focused on assessing the impact of activities carried out over the past year and identifying priorities for the future. In this context, participants explored the possibility of organising a regional conference in Chișinău on the role of training institutions in implementing the Istanbul Convention.
The HELP Programme is the Council of Europe’s key platform for professional training in the field of human rights, designed for judges, prosecutors, and lawyers. It offers 63 e-learning courses on a wide range of topics, translated into over 40 languages. The National Institute of Justice has adapted 23 of these courses to national legislation and delivers them with the assistance of certified national HELP tutors via the NIJ’s ILIAS platform and the CoE HELP platform.
