A seminar devoted to the observation (monitoring) of court hearings was held on 10 November 2006 within the confines of the program: “Court monitoring as a method for activation of students of law and economics in Poland and other Central-Eastern European and former CIS countries”. Leaders of nongovernmental organizations from Slovakia, Bulgaria, Moldova, the Ukraine and Romania were the seminar’s participants. (11-NOV-06)
Written by Marta Lempicka/HRH Warsaw
The aim of the seminar was to present the experience of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights associated with the implementation of the Courtwatch Program and to encourage the participants to undertake similar actions in their countries. During the seminar, the participants familiarized themselves with the World Bank’s activities for reforming economy and justice, the NGO’s role in reforming the court system, as well as the cooperation of the press with NGOs in reporting on court cases and issues related to access to justice.
The Courtwatch Program consists in monitoring the quality of work and manner of functioning of courts in Poland, particularly from the perspective of access to justice and the execution of the right to a fair trial. The program is performed in cooperation with volunteers, who carry out monitoring activities based on a readymade questionnaire. Until now, we have been able to collect around 200 accounts from day-long observations of the courts’ work.
The seminar was organized by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and World Bank.
