Fifth annual regional Rule of Law Forum for South East Europe

March 16, 2018 / Comments Off on Fifth annual regional Rule of Law Forum for South East Europe

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Representative of the Association for Democratic Initiatives (ADI) Sarajevo is participating at the fifth annual regional Rule of Law Forum for South East Europe, which is being held 16-17th March, 2018 in hotel Marriot in Skopje.

The Forum brought together 160 prominent representatives of the highest court chambers – supreme and constitutional courts, judicial councils, institutions and non-governmental organizations from Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia, as well as the representatives of these countries in the European Court of Human rights in Strasbourg.

As in previous years, rule of law is the main focus of the Forum. The main aim of the Forum is to advance application and implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Convention against Torture), with a special focus on the Article 3 of the Convention.

During the Forum, participants will be divided in 5 working groups: 1A. ECtHR judges and national judges – detention conditions, including States’ positive obligations to ensure their compliance with standards established by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT); 1B. ECtHR judges and national judges – the procedural obligation to effectively investigate claims of ill-treatment and the use of evidence obtained in contravention of Article 3 in criminal proceedings; 2. Government agents – raising awareness of torture and ill-treatment issues; 3. Judicial Training Centers and Institutions – future training programs for members of judiciary; 4. NGO representatives, ombudspersons and legal experts – main challenges in relation to torture and ill-treatment.

The forum was organized by the Advice on Individual Rights in Europe (AIRE) Centre and Civil Rights Defenders (CRD) with the support of the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of Sweden.

The agenda of the Forum can be downloaded here: Agenda_Fifth Annual Regional Rule of Law Forum for South East Europe