20 judges and prosecutors, working in different cities and on different levels of judiciary in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), participated in a cascade training on the right to freedom of expression and the application of the Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in the judiciary system.

Alongside the discussion on key principles of freedom of expression and its limitations, through the practice of European Court for Human Rights, but also through the domestic court practice, this training also focused on the protection of lawyers and public servants, as well as on freedom of expression and the internet. This seminar is the first one organised combining the online and offline participation. The participants and local experts gathered in Banja Luka, whereas the international expert and representatives of Council of Europe took part online. The goal of the seminar was to increase the number of judges and prosecutors from RS who are trained on freedom of expression and who are using the standards of the European Court of Human Rights in their daily work, in order to raise the capacities of local judiciary to consistently apply the standards set by the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court.

Alongside the international expert of the Council of Europe on the Article 10 of ECHR, Mirjana Popovic, judge of the Higher Court of Montenegro and a member of the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) in respect of Montenegro, domestic experts – judge Nives Cetojevic and public prosecutor Sanja Tadic Stojisavljevic, had been also educators at the training.

This training was organised within the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”, and its action on “Freedom of expression and freedom of the media in Bosnia and Herzegovina (JUFREX)”.