Международно-правовые акты
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COUNCIL OF EUROPE
COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS
Recommendation Rec(2004)4
of the Committee of Ministers to member states
on the European Convention on Human Rights in university
education and professional training
(adopted by the Committee
of Ministers on 12 May 2004,
at its 114th Session)
The Committee of Ministers,
in accordance with Article 15.b of the Statute of the
Council of Europe,
Considering that the aim of
the Council of Europe is the achievement of greater unity
among its members, and that one of the most important
methods by which that aim is to be pursued is the
maintenance and further realisation of human rights and
fundamental freedoms;
Reiterating its conviction
that the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms (hereinafter referred to as “the
Convention”) must remain the essential reference point for
the protection of human rights in Europe, and recalling its
commitment to take measures in order to guarantee the
long-term effectiveness of the control system instituted by
the Convention;
Recalling the subsidiary
character of the supervision mechanism set up by the
Convention, which implies, in accordance with its Article 1,
that the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Convention be
protected in the first place at national level and applied
by national authorities;
Welcoming in this context
that the Convention has now become an integral part of the
domestic legal order of all states parties;
Stressing the preventive
role played by education in the principles inspiring the
Convention, the standards that it contains and the case-law
deriving from them;
Recalling that, while
measures to facilitate a wide publication and dissemination
in the member states of the text of the Convention and of
the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights
(hereinafter referred to as “the Court”) are important in
order to ensure the implementation of the Convention at
national level, as has been indicated in Recommendation
Rec(2002)13, it is crucial that these measures are
supplemented by others in the field of education and
training, in order to achieve their aim;
Stressing the particular
importance of appropriate university education and
professional training programmes in order to ensure that the
Convention is effectively applied, in the light of the
case-law of the Court, by public bodies including all
sectors responsible for law enforcement and the
administration of justice;
Recalling the resolutions
and recommendations it has already taken on different
aspects of the issue of human rights education, in
particular: Resolution (78) 41 on the teaching of human
rights; Resolution (78) 40 containing regulations on Council
of Europe fellowships for studies and research in the field
of human rights; Recommendation No. R (79) 16 concerning the
promotion of human rights research in the member states of
the Council of Europe; Recommendation No. R (85) 7 on
teaching and learning about human rights in schools, as well
as its appendix containing suggestions for teaching and
learning about human rights in schools;
Recalling the role that may
be played by the national institutions for the promotion and
protection of human rights and by non-governmental
organisations, particularly in the field of training of
personnel responsible for law enforcement, and welcoming the
initiatives already undertaken in this area;
Taking into account the
diversity of traditions and practice in the member states as
regards university education, professional training and
awareness-raising regarding the Convention system;
Recommends that member
states:
I. ascertain that adequate
university education and professional training concerning
the Convention and the case-law of the Court exist at
national level and that such education and training are
included, in particular:
- as a component of the
common core curriculum of law and, as appropriate, political
and administrative science degrees and, in addition, that
they are offered as optional disciplines to those who wish
to specialise;
- as a component of the
preparation programmes of national or local examinations for
access to the various legal professions and of the initial
and continuous training provided to judges, prosecutors and
lawyers;
- in the initial and
continuous professional training offered to personnel in
other sectors responsible for law enforcement and/or to
personnel dealing with persons deprived of their liberty
(for example, members of the police and the security forces,
the personnel of penitentiary institutions and that of
hospitals), as well as to personnel of immigration services,
in a manner that takes account of their specific needs;
II. enhance the
effectiveness of university education and professional
training in this field, in particular by:
- providing for education
and training to be incorporated into stable structures –public
and private – and to be given by persons with a good
knowledge of the Convention concepts and the case-law of the
Court as well as an adequate knowledge of professional
training techniques;
- supporting initiatives
aimed at the training of specialised teachers and trainers
in this field;
III. encourage non-state
initiatives for the promotion of awareness and knowledge of
the Convention system, such as the establishment of special
structures for teaching and research in human rights law,
moot court competitions, awareness-raising campaigns;
Instructs the Secretary
General of the Council of Europe to transmit this
recommendation to the governments of those states parties to
the European Cultural Convention which are not members of
the Council of Europe.
Appendix to
Recommendation Rec(2004)4
Introduction
1. The Ministerial
Conference held in Rome on 3 and 4 November 2000 to
commemorate the 50th anniversary of the European Convention
on Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as “the
Convention”), invited the member states of the Council of
Europe to “take all appropriate measures with a view to
developing and promoting education and awareness of human
rights in all sectors of society, in particular with regard
to the legal profession”.1
2. This effort that national
authorities are requested to make is only a consequence of
the subsidiary character of the supervision mechanism set up
by the Convention, which implies that the rights guaranteed
by the Convention be fully protected in the first place at
national level and applied by national authorities.2
The Committee of Ministers has already adopted resolutions
and recommendations dealing with different aspects of this
issue3
and encouraging initiatives that may be undertaken notably
by independent national human rights institutions and NGOs,
with a view to promoting greater understanding and awareness
of the Convention and the case-law of the European Court of
Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as “the Court”).
3. Guaranteeing the
long-term effectiveness of the Convention system is among
the current priorities of the Council of Europe and, in this
context, the need for a better implementation of the
Convention at national level has been found to be vital.
Thus, it appears necessary that all member states ensure
that adequate education on the Convention is provided, in
particular concerning legal and law enforcement professions.
This might contribute to reducing, on the one hand, the
number of violations of rights guaranteed by the Convention
resulting from insufficient knowledge of the Convention and,
on the other hand, the lodging of applications which
manifestly do not meet admissibility requirements.
4. This recommendation
refers to three complementary types of action, namely:
i. the incorporation of
appropriate education and training on the Convention and the
case-law of the Court, notably in the framework of
university law and political science studies, as well as
professional training of legal and law enforcement
professions;
ii. guaranteeing the
effectiveness of the education and training, which implies
in particular a proper training for teachers and trainers;
and
iii. the encouragement of
initiatives for the promotion of knowledge and/or awareness
of the Convention system.
5. Bearing in mind the
diversity of traditions and practice in the member states in
respect of university education, professional training and
awareness-raising regarding the Convention, it is the member
states' responsibility to shape their own education
programmes according to their respective national
situations, in accordance with the principle of
subsidiarity, while ensuring that the standards of the
Convention are fully presented.
University education and
professional training
6. Member states are invited
to ensure that appropriate education on the Convention and
the case-law of the Court is included in the curricula of
university law degrees and Bar examinations as well as in
the continuous training of judges, prosecutors and lawyers.
University education
7. It is essential that
education on the Convention be fully incorporated into
faculty of law programmes, not only as an independent
subject, but also horizontally in each legal discipline
(criminal law, civil law, etc.) so that law students,
whatever their specialisation, are aware, when they
graduate, of the implications of the Convention in their
field.
8. The creation of
post-graduate studies specialised in the Convention, such as
certain national master's degrees or the European Master in
Human Rights and Democratisation (E.MA) which involves
twenty-seven universities over fifteen European states, as
well as shorter university programmes such as the
summer courses of the Institut international des droits de
l'homme René Cassin (Strasbourg) or those of the European
University Institute (Florence), should be
encouraged.
Professional training
9. Professional training
should facilitate a better incorporation of Convention
standards and the Court's case-law in the reasoning adopted
by domestic courts in their judgments. Moreover,
legal advice which would be given to potential applicants by
lawyers having an adequate knowledge of the Convention could
prevent applications that manifestly do not meet the
admissibility requirements. In addition, a better knowledge
of the Convention by legal professionals should contribute
to reducing the number of applications reaching the Court.
10. Specific training on the
Convention and its standards should be incorporated in the
programmes of law schools and schools for judges and
prosecutors. This could entail the organisation of workshops
as part of the professional training for lawyers, judges and
prosecutors. In so far as lawyers are concerned, such
workshops could be organised at the initiative of Bar
associations, for instance. Reference may be made to a
current project within the International Bar Association to
set up, with the assistance of the Court, training for
lawyers on the rules of procedure of the Court and the
practice of litigation, as well as the execution of
judgments. In certain countries, the Ministry of Justice
has the task of raising awareness and participating in
the training of judges on the case-law of the European
Court: judges in post may take advantage of sessions of one
or two days organised in their jurisdiction and of a
traineeship of one week every year; “justice auditors”
(student judges) are provided with training organised within
the judges' national school (Ecole nationale de
magistrature). Workshops are also organised on a regular
basis within the framework of the initial and continuous
training of judges.
11. Moreover, seminars and
colloquies on the Convention could be regularly organised
for judges, lawyers and prosecutors.
12. In addition, a journal
on the case-law of the Court could be published regularly
for judges and lawyers. In some member states, the Ministry
of Justice publishes a supplement containing references to
the case-law of the Court and issues relating to the
Convention. This publication is distributed to all courts.
13. It is recommended that
member states ensure that the standards of the Convention be
covered by the initial and continuous professional training
of other professions dealing with law enforcement and
detention, such as security forces, police officers and
prison staff but also immigration services, hospitals, etc.
Continuous training on the Convention standards is
particularly important given the evolving nature of the
interpretation and application of these standards in the
Court's case-law. Staff of the authorities
dealing with persons
deprived of their liberty should be fully aware of these
persons' rights as guaranteed by the Convention and as
interpreted by the Court in order to prevent any violation,
in particular of Articles 3, 5 and 8. It is therefore of
paramount importance that in each member state there is
adequate training within these professions.
14. A specific training
course on the Convention and its standards and, in
particular, aspects relating to rights of persons deprived
of their liberty should be incorporated in the programmes of
police schools, as well as schools for prison warders.
Workshops could also be organised as part of continuous
training of members of the police forces, warders and other
authorities concerned.
Effectiveness of
university education and professional training
15. For this purpose, member
states are recommended to ensure that university education
and professional training in this field are carried out
within permanent structures (public and private) by
well-qualified teachers and trainers.
16. In this respect,
training teachers and trainers is a priority. The aim is to
ensure that their level of knowledge corresponds with the
evolution of the case-law of the Court and meets the
specific needs of each professional sector. Member states
are invited to support initiatives (research in fields
covered by the Convention, teaching techniques, etc.) aimed
at guaranteeing a quality training of specialised teachers
and trainers in this sensitive and evolving field.
Promotion of knowledge
and/or awareness of the Convention system
17. Member states are
finally recommended to encourage initiatives for the
promotion of knowledge and/or awareness of the Convention
system. Such initiatives, which can take various forms, have
proved very positive in the past where they have been
launched and should therefore be encouraged by member states.
18. One example could be the
setting-up of moot court competitions for law students on
the Convention and the Court's case-law, involving at the
same time students, university professors and legal
professionals (judges, prosecutors, lawyers), for example
the Sporrong and Lönnroth competition organised in
the Supreme Courts of the Nordic countries, and the
pan-European French-speaking René Cassin competition,
organised by the association Juris Ludi in the premises of
the Council of Europe.
1
. European Ministerial Conference on Human Rights,
H-Conf(2001)001, Resolution II, paragraph 40.
2
. See Article 1 of the Convention.
3
. In particular: Resolution (78) 41 on the teaching of human
rights; Resolution (78) 40 containing regulations on Council
of Europe fellowships for studies and research in the field
of human rights; Recommendation No. R (79) 16 concerning the
promotion of human rights research in the member states of
the Council of Europe; Recommendation No. R (85) 7 on
teaching and learning about human rights in schools, as well
as its appendix containing suggestions for teaching and
learning about human rights in schools.
