Judges and prosecutors from across the Western Balkans gathered in Budapest for a pioneering three-day training to champion gender equality in justice. From 22-24 September  the thirty-four legal professionals from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia  are better equipped to use Council of Europe’s mentoring methodology to address the gendered barriers to access to justice.

The innovative and unique Mentoring Programme for legal professionals is the only peer to peer long term programme, integrating in the learning process real life cases from Europe. It enhances the continuous learning of the justice sector practitioners, with a focus on guaranteeing equal access to justice for women and men in the Western Balkans. Through guided, practical exercises, the participants identified, reflected on, and practiced ways to counter gender bias and stereotypes in the judiciary. This will help them transform theoretical insights into tactics ready for immediate use in their daily work.

One of the participants mentioned “our attitudes in the court… could help with ensuring full protection of human rights for all. This training made me reflect on how to facilitate the development of a gender sensitive justice systems by strengthening the values and attitudes of myself and peer legal professionals.”

The training of mentors was conducted in the framework of regional  action “Women’s access to justice in the Western Balkans”, part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye“. It builds on practical resources for legal professionals developed under previous Council of Europe  initiatives on the topic of strengthening women’s access to justice.

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.