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Raising awareness on the rights of persons with disabilities in Armenia
On 14 December 2022 the regional EU/Council of Europe anti-discrimination project, part of the Partnership for Good Governance II 2019-2022, joined the Human Rights Defenders office of Republic of Armenia (HRDO), in a discussion focused on Combating discrimination based on disability and health...
Report on the framework to measure access to justice including specific challenges facing women: New languages available
New languages are available for the report of the online roundtable on “Framework to measure access to justice including specific challenges facing women”. The translations has been produced by joint EU-Council of Europe joint programme, Partnership for Good Governance II regional project on...
Presentation of HELP platform on the occasion of National Day of Lawyers in Armenia
On 8 December 2022, to mark the National Lawyers’ Day celebrated on 6 December in Armenia, the regional project on "Strengthening the Profession of Lawyer in Line with European Standards", in cooperation with Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) programme and the Chamber of...
Planning ahead with Ukraine partners, to strengthen responses to discrimination and enhance societal cohesion in difficult times
Throughout the last years, the Council of Europe No Hate Speech and Co-operation Unit has been cooperating with various national stakeholders in Ukraine within the thematic area of combating discrimination, hate crime and hate speech, and protecting rights of national minorities. Since 2019, two...
Combating hate speech in the media in the Republic of Moldova
The presentation of the Guide on combating hate speech in the media in the Republic of Moldova was organised by the joint European Union and the Council of Europe project “Strengthening access to justice through non-judicial redress mechanisms for victims of discrimination, hate speech and hate...
The Council of Europe keeps on working with judges on better application of the European Convention on Human Rights standards while adjudication of criminal cases
In co-operation with the High School of Justice, the Council of Europe and the European Union organised another series of seminars to familiarise judges with the latest case-law of the Supreme Court of Georgia and the European Court of Human Rights related to domestic violence, admissibility of...
Website of the Court of Cassation of Armenia launched and available online for public
A website of the Armenian Court of Cassation was developed with the support of the Council of Europe and is available online since November 2022. The Council of Europe has been working closely with the Armenian judiciary to facilitate the effective implementation of European human rights...
Lawyers and judges discussed the ways to improve their professional interaction
On 25 November an online event - joint meeting of judges and lawyers was organised to discuss the implementation of Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) Opinion no. 16 of 2013 on the relations between judges and lawyers. The event gathered participants from Armenia, Georgia, the...
CEPEJ mission to the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan to assess the case management, processing of cases and e-filing
From 23 to 25 November, the European Commission for the efficiency of justice (CEPEJ) conducted an experts’ mission in Baku with the aim to assess the work efficiency of the Supreme Court. A report with recommendations on the improvement of the case management, processing of cases and e-filing...
Trainers of the National Institute of Justice of the Republic of Moldova enhanced their knowledge on reasonable accommodation
8 trainers of the National Institute of Justice have broadened their knowledge on reasonable accommodation within an online training of trainers. The training session held on November 24th, focused on the international legal framework and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights...
EU and Council of Europe supported conference in Tbilisi to discuss areas for further improvement and ongoing reform of the criminal justice legal framework in Georgia
Protection of victims’ and other vulnerable persons’ rights, the system of pre-trial measures and conduct of investigative actions are the areas which should be paid special attention to during the ongoing criminal justice reform in Georgia, underlined participants of the high-level conference...
Impact of COVID 19 on women’s access to justice: what are the next steps?
What can states do to address persistent and emerging challenges and barriers women face when accessing justice? How can the Covid-19 pandemic incentivise legal professionals in the national justice systems to rethink and reshape national approaches to access to justice and gender equality? Join...
Judicial staff, judges and prosecutors enhanced their knowledge on national and international standards on an effective remedy and the prohibition of discrimination
52 judges, prosecutors, and judicial staff have broadened their knowledge on international and national standards on non-discrimination within two online training sessions. Training sessions held on November 7’th and November 9’th, focused on the international legal framework and the case law of...
Discussion on the Opinion No. 24 (2021) of the CCJE on the evolution of the Councils for the Judiciary and their role in independent and impartial judicial systems
To highlight the competence, tasks, organisation and composition as well as resources at the disposal of the Councils for the Judiciary the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) adopted landmark Opinion No. 24 in 2021. The Opinion discusses the legitimacy and accountability of the...
Study visit of Georgian courts to The Netherlands
On 25-27 October 2022, the Council of Europe European Commission for the efficiency of justice (CEPEJ) organised a three-days study visit of Georgian court managers from the Supreme Court of Georgia, Zugdidi and Rustavi Regional Courts and Tbilisi Court to the courts of Amsterdam, The Hague and...
Workshop on risk-based regulation and supervision of the virtual assets sector in Armenia
Representatives of the Central Bank of Armenia, including the Financial Monitoring Centre within the Central Bank, participated in a workshop on risk-based Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regulation and supervision in the area of virtual assets, organised in...
Republic of Moldova: banning the display of symbols used by Russia’s army in Ukraine is legitimate and proportional, says Venice Commission
In the context of the war, the ban on the display of certain symbols used by the Russian armed forces during its invasion of Ukraine adopted by the Moldovan Parliament in April 2022 respects the requirements of legality, legitimacy and proportionality, according to an opinion adopted by the...
Collecting equality data, developing policies and guidance among peers: Equality bodies across South/East Europe equipped with new tools to address hate speech
The third and the final workshop on “Addressing hate speech through improving data collection” for equality bodies from Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership region took place on 18-19 October 2022, in Strasbourg. As the previous two events on this subject this year (June, July 2022), but...
CEPEJ visited Baku with the aim to analyse the provision of mediation services in Azberbaijan
From 17 to 19 October 2022, the European Commission for the efficiency of justice (CEPEJ) conducted a fact-finding mission in Baku with the aim to analyse the current situation and discuss how to provide support for improving mediation based on CEPEJ Guidelines and various tools dealing with...
Judiciary of the Court of Cassation of Armenia continue enhancing their knowledge and skills on the new criminal legislation of the country
Judges, experts and judicial assistants of the Court of Cassation of Armenia participated in the two-day workshop on “Selected issues of new Criminal (CC) and Criminal Procedure Codes (CPC) of Armenia” organised on 5-6 October in Yerevan. The objective of the workshop was to introduce the...
Discussion held on the review of the codes of conducts for lawyers
On 23 September an online event was organised to present the findings of the cross-country review of the codes of conducts of lawyers in Armenia, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine. The event gathered the members of the Bar Associations, judges, and other national authorities’...
Workshop on comparative solutions and good practices for Financial Intelligence Units on strategic and operational analysis
Representatives of the Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) of the beneficiary countries participated in the international workshop on “Comparative Solutions and Good Practices for Financial Intelligence Units on Strategic and Operational Analysis” organised by the Economic Crime and Cooperation...
Education and awareness responses to hate speech in Georgia
Representatives of the Public Defender’s office, Prosecutor’s office, Central election commission, education and training practitioners, various human rights, and minority civil society organisations in Georgia, participated in a roundtable that focused on the role of awareness-raising,...
Promoting non-discrimination during wartime in Ukraine
The joint project “Strengthening the access to justice through non-judiciary redress mechanisms for victims of discrimination, hate crime and hate speech in Eastern Partnership countries,” awarded two grants to civil society organisation in Ukraine in 2021. Their aim was to support victims of...
Investigators and prosecutors of Armenia enhanced their knowledge and skills on the new criminal and procedural legislation of Armenia
In co-operation with the Justice Academy in Yerevan, four two-day training seminars on “Selected issues of the new Criminal (CC) and Criminal Procedure (CPC) Codes of Armenia” were organised for investigators and prosecutors of Armenia in July and August 2022. The objective of the training...
Promoting equality and non-discrimination in the Republic of Moldova
The joint project "Strengthening the access to justice through non-judiciary redress mechanisms for victims of discrimination, hate crime and hate speech in Eastern Partnership countries" awarded two grants to civil society organisations in the Republic of Moldova, aimed at increasing access to...
Georgia: Draft surveillance law adopted hastily, needs further elaboration, finds Venice Commission opinion
The draft law amending Georgia’s procedure for the use of covert investigative measures was adopted in a hasty procedure and requires both impact assessment and more detailed justification, according to an urgent opinion from the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission of legal and constitutional...
Staff of the Representative of the Republic of Armenia before the European Court of Human Right enhanced their knowledge and skills on the new criminal legislation of Armenia
During the two-day training seminar on “Selected issues of new Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes of Armenia,” 16 participants had the opportunity to acquire new skills on judicial review, peculiarities of conducting certain types of proceedings, judicial safeguards of pre-trial proceedings,...
Promoting equality in Armenia through cooperation with civil society organisations
The joint project "Strengthening the access to justice through non-judiciary redress mechanisms for victims of discrimination, hate crime and hate speech in Eastern Partnership countries," awarded two grants to Armenian NGOs in 2021, related specifically to support victims of discrimination in...
The integrity of Moldovan self-administrative bodies of judges and prosecutors supported through enhanced open-source investigation
Responding to a country-specific request from the pre-vetting Secretariat of the Republic of Moldova, the joint European Union, and Council of Europe regional project “Strengthening measures to prevent and combat economic crime” offered a training on open-source investigation and web crawling to...
Summer School on Arbitration
Students from various universities of Armenia had the opportunity to get first-hand insights into the world of arbitration during the 4-day Summer School on Arbitration co-organised by the Council of Europe and Arbitrators’ Association of Armenia. Taught by the leading arbitration practitioners...
The CEPEJ organised a training on judicial statistics in Georgia
On 9-10 July 2022, the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) organised a training for court managers and courts staff in order to enhance their skills to collect and analyse judicial data and to use performance indicators for courts. The collection, processing and analysis of...
Steps forward in combating inequality and hatred using human rights approach
The second of four modules on “Addressing hate speech through improving data collection”, enabled continuation of co-operation among equality bodies/Ombudsperson institutions from the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership regions on the topic of data collection in combating hate speech and...
Roundtable presentation of a gap analysis of policy and legislation on violence against women in Azerbaijan
On 4 July 2022, the project “Raising awareness of the Istanbul Convention and other gender equality standards in Azerbaijan” presented a gap analysis of Azerbaijani legislative and policy frameworks in line with Council of Europe and other international standards in the field of violence against...
Model rules of conduct for all Armenian public servants adopted - implementation by institutions to follow
The Council of Europe and the Corruption Prevention Commission of the Republic of Armenia jointly organised a “High-level Conference on the Model Code of Conduct for Public Servants in Armenia” on 4th July in Yerevann, Armenia. The conference concludes and complements the process of development...
Guides on the new Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes of Armenia ready for the national legal professionals as the new legislation enters into force
The Council of Europe has been working closely with the Armenian authorities on the criminal justice reform through legislative, methodological, and capacity-building support since 2015. Based on the legal expertise of the Council of Europe, conceptually new Criminal Code and Code of Criminal...
Training for Ukrainian judges on seizure and confiscation ready to be rolled-out throughout the country
In co-operation with the National School of Judges of Ukraine (NSJU), a training on seizure and confiscation for Ukrainian criminal judges, both from district and appellate courts, took place online on June 29 with over 85 participants. This training built on previous activities delivered jointly...
The Insurance Sector and financial intelligence unit in Georgia advance cooperation for effective compliance against economic crime
In cooperation with the Insurance State Supervision Service of Georgia, a two-day training on “Anti-money laundering/countering financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance” was organised specifically designed for the insurance sector. The training was part of a series of activities to support the...
Promoting equality in Azerbaijan
A workshop on combating discrimination and promoting equality by enhancing the knowledge and practical competencies of the Ombudsman office staff, representatives of regional and local authorities and civil society organisation active in the field, was organised on 22-23 June 2022 in Lankaran....
Ombudsman staff and civil society organisation representatives enhance their skills to provide support on anti-discrimination work in Azerbaijan
Office staff of the Ombudsman and representatives of civil society organisations successfully completed the Training of Trainers on combating discrimination held from November 2021 to June 2022. Through these trainings, participants enhanced their knowledge and practical competences on key...
Ensuring high-quality trainings on the new criminal justice legislation in Armenia by equipping trainers locally
15 national trainers got equipped with tools and techniques on adult learning methodology. The objective is to ensure high quality trainings on the new criminal justice legislation, as well as to guide trainers to link the newly acquired knowledge with their practical experience and further...
Expert discussion on the right of access to court for persons being declared as legally incapable as a result of mental disorder
On 17 and 18 June 2022, the President and the judges of the Court of Cassation, Supreme Judicial Council member, Representation of Armenia on International Legal matters, representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the Human Rights Defender’s office, the Ministry of Health, the Guardianship and...
Legal professionals in Azerbaijan get trained on collection and analysis of court statistics
In co-operation with the Justice Academy of Azerbaijan, two online training sessions on improving the efficiency and quality of courts based on the tools and guidelines developed by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ). These trainings aimed to deepen the knowledge on...
“We are equal but different”: raising awareness on rights of people with disabilities
The local NGO “Equal Rights Equal Opportunities” (EREO) organised in Vanadzor, Armenia, a Community Forum concluding the results of the action “Challenging stereotypes against disabled people through empowerment in Armenia” being implemented under joint European Union/Council of Europe project...
High-level Conference “The Judiciary as a Guardian of Democracy”
The conference co-organised with the Constitutional Court of Armenia on 8-9 June in Yerevan, served as a platform to facilitate the dialogue between the Constitutional Court, courts of general jurisdiction and other branches of power, alongside with the international community and civil society....
State of affairs in the area of equality and nondiscrimination presented at the Conference dedicated to the 10th anniversary since the adoption of the Law on ensuring equality
Representatives of key institutions working on human rights, civil society organisations and associations that represent minority groups attended the conference dedicated to the 10th anniversary since the adoption of the Law on Ensuring Equality. The aim of the event was to take stock of the...
Human rights training methodology for legal professionals now available in Armenian
The HELP Methodology Guidebook on Human Rights Training for Legal Professionals is now available in Armenian. It provides a step-by-step analysis of the various stages of the methodology and describes the roles of the HELP Secretariat, the network members and the tutors in the training process....
Investigators of Armenia enhanced their knowledge and skills on the new criminal and procedural legislation of Armenia
Five two-day training seminars on "Selected issues of new Criminal (CC) and Criminal Procedure Codes (CPC) of Armenia" were organised for 125 investigators of Armenia from April till June 2022 in the Justice Academy in Yerevan. During the first half of the seminars, the participants learnt about...
Georgian law enforcement agencies improve their skills on economic crime cases through training sessions
Representatives of law enforcement agencies in Georgia participated to the training on corporate criminal liability, organised in a hybrid format on 2-3 June 2022 in co-operation with the Office of the Prosecutor General of Georgia. This event is a part of series of activities designed to support...
Addressing hate speech through improving data collection in the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership Region
The joint network of equality bodies working in the field of combatting hate speech delivered the first of the four planned workshops on “Addressing hate speech through improving data collection”. The activity aimed at ensuring a practical exchange between equality bodies/Ombudsperson...
Case law on violence against women and domestic violence presented at the Baku State University
On 20 May 2022, the Council of Europe, in co-operation with the Faculty of Law of Baku State University, organised an event to raise awareness of the European Court of Human Rights (the European Court) case law on violence against women and domestic violence at the Faculty of Law of the Baku...
Awareness-raising event on the role of national Parliaments in preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence in Azerbaijan
On 19 May 2022, the Council of Europe in co-operation with the State Committee on Family, Women and Children Affairs (SCFWCA) organised an awareness-raising event on the role of national Parliaments in preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence in Baku, Azerbaijan. The...
Legal professionals in Armenia trained on Ethics for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers
A group of 23 legal professionals are trained in co-operation with the Justice Academy of Armenia on ethics for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers. The Council of Europe HELP online course used for the training has been translated into Armenian, adapted to the Armenian context and is piloted in the...
Tulip Press Award 2022 for articles created under EU/CoE awareness-raising campaign on hate speech
The Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) and the Office of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands announced the results of the competition Tulip Press Awards, 2022 edition, to highlight the efforts of journalists who address human rights issues in their materials. In its second edition,...
Contributing to the efforts of Georgian authorities to implement recommendations on anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism through trainings for accountants and auditors
In co-operation with the Service for Accounting, Reporting and Auditing Supervision of Georgia (SARAS), two online trainings on “Anti-money laundering/countering financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance” on 27 and 29 April 2022. The trainings contributed to the efforts by Georgian authorities...
Judiciary of the Court of Cassation of Armenia enhance their knowledge and skills on the new criminal procedure legislation of the country
Judges, experts and judicial assistants of the Court of Cassation of Armenia participated in the one-day workshop “Selected issues of new Criminal Procedure Code of Armenia” organised on 28 April in Yerevan. During the first two sessions, the participants discussed evidence, proving as well as...
Judges and prosecutors from the Republic of Moldova enhanced their knowledge on remedies in cases of discrimination
25 judges and prosecutors strengthened their knowledge on national and international remedies in cases of discrimination through an online training. The event held on 27 April, focused on the international legal framework and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights pertaining to...
Round table discussion on the draft Judicial and Legal Reforms Strategy for 2022-2026 of the Republic of Armenia with the participation of the judiciary
Members of the Supreme Judicial Council, Presidents and judges from different court instances both from Yerevan and regions of Armenia, and the Ministry of Justice representatives discussed the draft Judicial and Legal Reforms Strategy for 2022-2026 of the Republic of Armenia.The event was...
Round table discussion on the Decision SJC-65-VO-165 (30 August 2021) of the Supreme Judicial Council of the Republic of Armenia ''On prescribing benchmark periods of the average duration of case examination as per individual types and complexity of cases''
Members of the Supreme Judicial Council of the Republic of Armenia, Presidents and judges from different court instances both from Yerevan and regions of Armenia, and the Ministry of Justice representatives discussed the Decision SJC-65-VO-165 (30 August 2021) of the Supreme Judicial Council of...
Priorities and challenges for the asset declaration regime in Georgia identified with the support of our anti-corruption project in the country
The management team of the Civil Service Bureau (CSB), under the guidance of the project “Enhancing the systems of prevention and combating corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing in Georgia,” discussed during a workshop the effective implementation of the asset declaration regime...
Public officials of Kakheti region trained to combat corruption
In cooperation with the State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG), we organised on April 14-15 an awareness-raising training on “Fighting Corruption” for municipal public officials from the Region of Kakheti, in Georgia. The leading trainers of the sessions were staff of the SSG’s Anti-corruption...
Judges enhanced their knowledge and skills on the new criminal procedural legislation of Armenia
Four one-day seminars on “Selected issues of Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) of Armenia” were organised for 62 judges of Armenia in March and April 2022 in the Justice Academy in Yerevan. The judges improved their knowledge and skills on topics such as evidence, proving, arrest and measures of...
Testimonial of Nikoloz Chinkorashvili from Local Steering Commitee meeting in Georgia
Testimonial of Nikoloz Chinkorashvili, Unit of European Integration and cooperation with International Organization, General Prosecutor's Office of Georgia, from Local Steering Commitee meeting in Georgia
Ambassador Meglena Kuneva, Head of Delegation of the EU to the Council of Europe, speaks about the PGG II
Ambassador Meglena Kuneva, Head of Delegation of the EU to the Council of Europe, speaks about the Partnership for Good Governance II 2019-2022 (the PGG)
Round table discussion on the application of mediation in Armenia
Mediators, lawyers and judges from different court instances and Ministry of Justice representatives, discussed the Mediation Development Toolkit (also available in Armenian) presented by a Council of Europe expert on 29 March 2022. The event allowed an exchange on the current challenges in the...
The Council of Europe and the European Union Delegation presented the state of implementation of the joint projects in Armenia in 2021 and the PGG activities planned for 2022
The European Union and Council of Europe joint programme Partnership for Good Governance II 2019-2022 (the PGG) held the third Steering Committee meeting for Armenia on Friday 25 March in online format. The aim of the meeting was to present the state of implementation and the results of the...
Armenia: Joint Opinion of the Venice Commission and the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe
The Venice Commission adopted a joint opinion on the draft laws on making amendments to the Constitutional Law on the Judicial Code and to the Constitutional Law on the Constitutional Court of Armenia, prepared together with the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI) of the...
Judicial staff in the Republic of Moldova enhanced their knowledge on remedies in cases of discrimination
98 employees of the judicial system in the country, strengthened their knowledge on national and international remedies in cases of discrimination through an online training. The event held on 16 March, focused on the international legal framework and the case law of the European Court of Human...
Presentation of the outcomes of the consultations to define the indicators and track records able to demonstrate the effect of judicial reforms in Azerbaijan
The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) organised a presentation of the Report “Consultations to define the indicators and track records able to demonstrate the effect of judicial reforms in Azerbaijan”. This report which was prepared by two CEPEJ experts, Nino Bakakuri,...
National stakeholders discuss results and next actions of anti-money laundering and asset recovery project in Azerbaijan
24 representatives from 16 national authorities took part in the third Steering Committee meeting of the joint European Union and Council of Europe Partnership for Good Governance II 2019-2022 project on strengthening anti-money laundering and asset recovery in Azerbaijan. The meeting allowed to...
The Council of Europe and the European Union Delegation presented the state of implementation of the joint projects in Georgia in 2021 and PGG activities planned for 2022
The European Union and Council of Europe joint programme Partnership for Good Governance II 2019-2022 (PGG) held the third Steering Committee meeting for Georgia on Friday 11 March in online format. The aim of the meeting was to present the state of implementation and the results of the programme...
The brochure “Sexism: See it. Name it. Stop it.” now available in Azerbaijani
On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, a new brochure on the Committee of Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec(2019)1 on preventing and combating sexism is available now in Azerbaijani. This brochure explains the recommendation and its aims, defines sexism, whilst showcasing its...
Webinars on the Istanbul Convention in Azerbaijan: what does it really say?
A series of webinars dedicated to specific articles of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Convention, were organised in 2021 by our project in Azerbaijan. The webinars aimed to increase knowledge and...
The Council of Europe and the European Union Delegation presented the state of implementation of the joint projects in the Republic of Moldova in 2021 and PGG activities planned for 2022
The European Union and Council of Europe joint programme Partnership for Good Governance II 2019-2022 (PGG) held the third Steering Committee meeting for the Republic of Moldova on Tuesday 3 March in online format. The aim of the meeting was to present the state of implementation and the results...
Armenian team of students participates in the Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot Court with our project's support
From 28 February to 2 March, a team of Armenian students participated in the 14th edition of the Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot Court 2022 online competition. This is an educational exercise that promotes the peaceful resolution of international disputes in accordance with international...
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