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Resolution 1982 (2014) Final version
The European Convention on Human Rights: the need to reinforce the training of legal professionals
1. The European Court of Human Rights
(“the Court”), which is responsible for ensuring that the European Convention
on Human Rights (ETS No. 5, “the Convention”) is correctly applied
by the member States of the Council of Europe, plays a fundamental
role in reinforcing democracy, the rule of law and human rights
in those countries.
2. In order to improve the application of the European Convention
on Human Rights as interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights,
law professionals must receive better training in this area. Knowledge
of this kind requires the Court’s case law to be accessible in a
language which the law professionals in each State Party can understand.
3. The Parliamentary Assembly notes the wide diversity of systems
for training law professionals in the member States, including in
the human rights sphere. Some countries already provide basic and
further training on the Convention and the Court’s case law, whereas
others depend on the Council of Europe to set up suitable training
programmes and even to provide such training directly to professionals.
Given the diversity of the legal systems and the training programmes
on offer, it would be unwise to propose standardised training in
all member States.
4. The Assembly recalls the work already carried out by the Council
of Europe in the training field, including Committee of Ministers
Recommendation Rec(2004)4 on the European Convention on Human Rights
in university education and professional training, which it invites
the member States to implement.
5. The Assembly believes that the Council of Europe’s European
Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (“HELP
Programme”) is well placed to provide assistance with training on
the Convention as interpreted by the Court in any member State that
requests it.
6. The HELP Programme is clearly not intended to replace the
efforts of the various training bodies for law professionals in
each member State to incorporate training on the Convention into
their own training programmes. It must limit its input to helping
member States introduce such training, by providing them with tools
facilitating that task.
7. Co-operation with the HELP Programme may take the form of
“training for trainers” for example, or assistance in devising human
rights training modules that are part of basic or further training
for law professionals, or regularly updated compilations of the
Court’s case law geared to priorities to be defined with the competent
bodies in each interested country. Through the HELP Programme, the
member States can also exchange their experiences in this sphere
and foster good practices.
8. In the interests of subsidiarity and effectiveness, the HELP
Programme will have to rely on regular co-operation with the different
players involved in training law professionals (justice ministries,
universities, specialised vocational training colleges, bar associations)
and with civil society in interested member States.
9. The expertise available within the Court could usefully be
exploited on an occasional basis, but without diverting too many
resources from the Court’s main task, which is dealing with applications.
10. The Assembly invites the member States to improve the training
provided to law professionals on the Convention by:
10.1. ensuring that the Convention
and the Court’s case law form an integral part of the basic and further
training they receive;
10.2. translating, in so far as possible, the case law of the
Court into their national language(s);
10.3. calling on the services of the HELP Programme to meet
their needs for co-operation in the training of law professionals
on the Convention.