Download: Report on Fourth Study Visit and Expert Consultations of ILIA Alumni and Experts (English)
Download: Report on Fourth Study Visit and Expert Consultations of ILIA Alumni and Experts (Russian)
As part of the visit, participants observed the trial of Russian opposition figure and lawyer Alexei Navalnyy. They evaluated the parties’ lines of reasoning to draw their own conclusions regarding the parties’ legal positions, and to be prepared to use the experience gained in their future communication with international judicial bodies.
They also attended a side event on lawyers and threats to them, arranged by the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE). ILIA alumnus Alaif Hasanov (Azerbaijan) and ILIA expert Veaceslav Turcan (Moldova) spoke at the event, addressing the problems that lawyers face in the public spotlight at the international level. They illustrated the importance of professional solidarity and support for lawyers on the part of international associations, in particular the CCBE.
At the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the ILIA group followed a session about preparing a convention on the profession of the lawyer. This enabled participants to identify opportunities to advocate for the implementation of human rights at the national level through the PACE deputies representing their countries.
The participants included several lawyers and legal professionals from a number of Eastern European countries. During the visit, the group was able to gain and share knowledge, provide an update on the situations in their own countries, and to test their new competencies. They gained a greater understanding of the interrelation and influence of the principle of the independence of the lawyers and the overall enjoyment of the right to a fair trial
They met CoE experts, PACE deputies (including the Rapporteur Sabien Lahaye-Battheu), and judges from the European Court of Human Rights.
The visit was organised and conducted by Human Rights House Foundation and partners of ILIA, in cooperation with the Council of Europe and the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE).
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