On 3-4 July 2025 the International Union of Judicial Officers (UIHJ), represented by Oscar Jans, Secretary of the UEHJ Executive Committee attended the 2025 Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) Annual Conference in Strasbourg. The conference was organized by the Council of Europe under the Maltese presidency.
The HELP-conference provides a forum to discuss ways to enhance human rights education for legal professionals, concrete implementation at a national level of European human rights standards and how to improve cooperation among all national and international institutions.
The conference opened with a keynote speech of Mr. Amfinn Bårdsen, Vice-President of the European Court of Human Rights in light of the 75th anniversary of the Convention of Human Rights.
Subsequently a comprehensive overview was given on the achievements of HELP in the EU, Western Balkans, the Eastern Partnership and in the South Mediterranean. Special attention was given to the response of the Council of Europe to the war in Ukraine and the integration of HELP-courses in Ukraine.
The second day workshops on soft skills in legal training, Digitalization of training and Sustainable and impactful training were held.
Furthermore, training as a vector for advancing human rights protection was discussed. In this context, Mr Frédéric Dolt, Head of the Department for the Execution of ECtHR Judgments at the Council of Europe, highlighted the effective implementation of HELP courses as a tool to support the execution of ECtHR judgments.
The UEHJ would like to thank the HELP team for the perfect organization of the annual conference on the very important HELP-program, giving a perfect opportunity to intensify the involvement of the UEHJ in HELP and help to further strengthen the ties between the UEHJ and the Council of Europe.
