30 representatives of the judiciary, prosecutors and lawyers developed their professional skills on 16 and 17 November at a seminar dedicated to the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), organized by the Legal Resources Centre from Moldova (LRCM) in partnership with the National Justice Institute (NJI).

The event focused on the application of Article 6 (Right to a fair trial) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and the trainers were Dragoș Cucereanu, permanent legal officer of the ECtHR Registry and lawyer Vladislav Gribincea.

Opening the seminar, the advisor to the acting director of the NJI, Cezara-Elena Polisca, stated that the institution is open and encourages training for the continuous training of justice professionals.

“We are always pleased when constructive initiatives come from civil society and development partners to develop the professional capacities of judges, prosecutors and lawyers, and this human rights seminar fits perfectly into our ongoing training programme”, said Cezara-Elena Polisca.

Floris van Eijk, Head of the Office of the Netherlands Embassy in the Republic of Moldova, gave a speech in Romanian to the participants in which he mentioned the importance of good cooperation between civil society, development partners and institutions responsible for the proper training of justice professionals to ensure the application of human rights.

“The right to a fair trial is a fundamental right, which at national level is ensured by judges, prosecutors and lawyers. In this respect, it is very important that they have the necessary knowledge, act in the interest of the law and the rule of law, and perform their duties in a fair, impartial and ethical manner”, said Floris van Eijk.

The training programme aimed to strengthen the participants’ knowledge of the application of ECHR standards on fair trial. Statistical information about the Republic of Moldova at the ECtHR, trends in Moldovan applications and ECtHR case law were presented, as well as specific issues concerning the taking of evidence, the right to an adversarial process, the obligation to state reasons for judgments, etc.

“We know that there are many dilemmas within the justice system. The law cannot answer all of them. For these reasons, the permanent training of professionals in the field is welcome, especially as, in addition to the analysis of ECtHR precedents, the seminar encourages interaction and exchange of practical views between judges, prosecutors and lawyers. In this regard, we would like to thank the NJI for its availability and cooperation”, said Daniel Goinic, Director of the Human Rights Programme of the LRCM.

The event took place thanks to the financial support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands produced within the ”Ensuring better human rights standards in Moldova” project, implemented by the Legal Resources Centre from Moldova