In October, the CEELI Institute, working in cooperation with the Centre de la Protection Internationale (Strasbourg), launched the first session of what will ultimately be a three part course for young lawyers seeking to deepen their competency to work on cases involving violations of the rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, and seeking to perfect appeals of those violations to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), in Strasbourg. The ECtHR is currently among the most important avenues of international appeal and review open to citizens seeking redress from final judgments in the 47 member states of the Council of Europe. Such redress is particularly important for citizens of European countries which are not members of the European Union, such as Turkey, Ukraine, and Russia.
This course curricula will be delivered in three separate, interactive sessions, each lasting five days. The sessions will be spaced over the next seven months, and require commitment from participants to attend each session. The final session will include a moot court hearing in Grand Chamber in the ECtHR, in Strasbourg. The Faculty consists of attorneys working in the ECtHR’s administration, as well as former ECtHR judges or lawyers, who have been working in the ECtHR for decades, and who are well qualified to explain the peculiarities of the Convention based on their own cases.
This course also offers an exceptional opportunity for further mentorship for the participants by our committed faculty members. Thus, between the sessions, the participants can reach out to faculty for advice on cases or execution of ECtHR decisions in their country. The course also addresses strategic steps to undertake in the execution of the ECtHR’s decisions—a critical final step if the decisions are to have lasting impact.