Today, following a round table with the Ukrainian community of the Etobicoke area in Toronto, James Bezan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, and Ted Opitz, Member of Parliament for Etobicoke Centre, on behalf of Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, announced a contribution to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The OSCE’s Human Rights Training for Judges project will increase the protection of the human rights of Ukrainian citizens in the courts by training Ukrainian legal professionals on the norms of the European Court of Human Rights.

This training program is implemented in partnership with the Ukrainian National School of Judges and the Commercial, Administrative and First Instance Courts.

Canada is providing a contribution of $3.2 million to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe for the implementation of this project, which aims to increase the protection of human rights of Ukrainian citizens in the courts by training Ukrainian legal professionals on the norms of the European Court of Human Rights. The project seeks to develop a training methodology and 10 courses on the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights for the National School of Judges of Ukraine and for Ukrainian universities.

The project will enable 1,000 Ukrainian judges, representing all trial, administrative and commercial courts, and 3,000 lawyers, legal scholars and human rights defenders to improve their skills. To ensure sustainability, the project aims to provide 250 judges with the skills to train other judges on the application of human rights law.

In addition, the project provides support for improving the ability of civil society organizations to monitor how the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights are applied. The project also supports a public awareness campaign on human rights and the European Convention.

The project will be implemented by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which represents 57 states. 

 

http://www.international.gc.ca/media/dev/news-communiques/2014/07/23a.aspx?lang=eng

http://www.international.gc.ca/media/dev/news-communiques/2014/07/23abg.aspx?lang=eng