The students and legal practitioners who participated in two Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) online courses and in the legal clinic, received their certificates on 23 February 2023.

Over the period of one year, law students from three law faculties in Montenegro broadened their knowledge on relevant international standards safeguarding the rights of victims of domestic violence. They were working with legal practitioners, judges, lawyers and civil society activists to gain practical skills on how to deal with “real cases”, particularly concerning domestic and gender-based violence.

Following the course of the clinical education the students took a test and demonstrated high level of knowledge and legal reasoning. 30 successful students were awarded the certificates on completion of the clinical education on human rights issues.

On the same occasion, certificates were awarded to law students participating in human rights legal clinic in Montenegro, as well as legal practitioners, who attended online course on violence against women and domestic violence and on introduction to the European Convention on Human Rights and European Court for Human Rights, both developed by the HELP programme.

With tutors’ assistance, the courses further enhanced the capacities of the young generation of lawyers in Montenegro, covering the key concepts of international and European legal framework and case law governing prevention and protection of human rights, particularly protection of women and girls from violence. Furthermore, courses provided legal professionals with practical tools for dealing with cases of human rights violations and violence against women and domestic violence.

Certificates were awarded to 36 students and legal practitioners for successful completion of the course on Violence against women and domestic violence, and 43 for the course on European Convention on Human Rights and European Court on Human Rights.

This activity was implemented within Horizontal Facility (HF) II action “Improved procedural safeguards in judicial proceedings in Montenegro”, and is continued through the action “Strengthening accountability of the judicial system and enhancing protection of victims' rights in Montenegro”, which is a part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.