Назад Webinar on the Council of Europe anti-trafficking standards delivered to legal professionals in North Macedonia

Webinar on the Council of Europe anti-trafficking standards delivered to legal professionals in North Macedonia

A webinar on the Council of Europe standards for preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting victims was organised in the framework of the European Union and Council of Europe joint action on "Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings in North Macedonia“, in cooperation with the Academy for judges and prosecutors. The event was attended by 100 participants, including judges, prosecutors, lawyers and members of the National Anti-trafficking Commission.

In her address, Petya Nestorova, Executive Secretary of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), noted that the HELP course on combating trafficking in human beings strengthens the capacity of legal professionals to apply the standards of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings in their daily work. Nestorova elaborated on the victim-centred approach of the Convention and the obligations to identify victims, assist them in their recovery, and ensure their access to effective remedies. She also highlighted the importance of the effective investigation, prosecution and punishment of traffickers as one of the main purposes of the Convention. Petya Nestorova informed the participants about the two evaluation reports issued by GRETA with respect to the implementation of the Convention by North Macedonia, as well as about the upcoming third evaluation, which would focus on victims’ access to justice and effective remedies.

Ivana Jelic, Judge of the European Court of Human Rights, explained the concepts under Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and outlined the substantive and procedural obligations of states under this article. Her presentation focused on the 2011 case of Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia and the 2020 Grand Chamber case of S.M. v. Croatia. In the first case, the Court found that the authorities failed to take measures to protect the applicant in circumstances which gave rise to a ‘credible suspicion’ of trafficking or exploitation. In the second case, Croatia was found in breach of Article 4 of the Convention due to the failure of the authorities to conduct an effective investigation.

Prosecutor Maja Koneska,  HELP Programme tutor in North Macedonia, spoke from her own experience of prosecuting cases of trafficking in human beings. She highlighted difficulties in identifying human trafficking victims in mixed migration flows transiting North Macedonia, as the victims felt fearful and intimidated, and did not regard themselves as victims. Culture and language barriers also operated against formal identification of trafficking victims among migrants.

Pavlina Zefic who legally represented the first child victim of trafficking receiving a compensation in the country, highlighted the importance of the timely confiscation of the assets of the perpetrators for the enforcement of the court compensation. The lawyers’ role was to collect the evidence needed for the compensation in cooperation with the police and centres for social work and actively request the criminal court to deal with the compensation claims in the criminal proceedings, instead of their referral to the civil court.

The event was organised within the HELP online course on combating trafficking in human beings and the action on "Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings in North Macedonia“ which is a part of European Union and Council of Europe joint programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II”.

Skopje 12 April 2021
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