2nd Awareness Raising Event of the Project has been held on 9 December 2019
The event organised jointly by the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (UTBA) and the Council of Europe was attended by approximately 120 lawyers, representatives of bar associations, the Ministry of Justice, judiciary, the Ombudsman Institution, international organisations, civil society, as well as international and national experts.
The second awareness-raising event of the Joint Project SCOBAL (“Strengthening the Capacity of Bar Associations and Lawyers on European Human Rights Standards”), designed as symposium and round table meeting on “HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION: NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS” was held in Ankara on 9 December 2019. The event organised jointly by the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (UTBA) and the Council of Europe was attended by approximately 120 lawyers, representatives of bar associations, the Ministry of Justice, judiciary, the Ombudsman Institution, international organisations, civil society, as well as international and national experts.
The Symposium provided an overview of the available national mechanisms, recent changes and initiatives, and the available mechanisms for human right protection on the European level, in particular the European Court of Human Rights. The role of continuous professional education of lawyers as an instrument to strengthen the protection of human rights was discussed as well.
The round table session in the afternoon was attended by more than 50 participants from the stakeholder institutions and judicial bodies. Having the purpose of creating an interactive environment for participation, it provided a platform for the discussions of the work and activities of the Human Rights Centres of the pilot Bar Associations, the challenges faced, good practice and experiences as well as stakeholders’ expectations.
The participants mentioned the positive input of the SCOBAL project in the strengthening of the capacities of the legal community and lawyers individually in the field of human rights protection and underlined the importance of the project.
A report on recommendations to find practical solutions to the challenges identified will be developed out of this full day event, to help better implementation and coordination of the human rights centres.