Activity Details (ID# 4877)

Activity Synopsis

The objective of the seminar was to present to the judges and prosecutors from Novi Sad region the general principles developed by the European Court of Human Rights concerning Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and its application as regards defamation, insult, incitement to hatred, access to information, protection of sources, state secrecy and whistle-blowing. The case studies on defamation, insult of public figures, privacy and whistle-blowing were discussed with the participants. 

The seminar was very well organised. Council of Europe documents concerning freedom of expression, translated into Serbian, were distributed to the participants (Case law concerning Article 10 of the ECHR, Media and Elections and Declaration and Recommendations concerning freedom of expression adopted by the Committee of Ministers).

The participants were very motivated and very interested by the expert’s presentations. They took the opportunity to ask questions about the British and Dutch judicial systems, given that the experts came from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The main concern expressed by the participants was the non-compliance of their national laws and regulations with European standards. They stressed that important changes would need to be carried out before these standards could be applied in their country. They also stressed that this kind of activity is very important for their work, especially in view of the future accession of Serbia and Montenegro to the Council of Europe.

During the seminar the participants discussed domestic cases concerning freedom of expression and information and compared the decision of the national courts with European Court decisions in the similar cases. 

In general, the seminar was successful. The conclusion of the evaluation questionnaire distributed to the participants at the end of the seminar, was that most participants had attended some seminars on the ECHR but their understanding of the European system for the protection of human rights and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights was limited, especially concerning Article 10 of ECHR. The participants expressed their wish to become more familiar with the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the Court and to be able to apply these standards as soon as possible.

All participants expressed a wish to:
- continue this kind of activity
- participate in additional seminars on other Articles of the ECHR
- invite the judges of the European Court of Human Rights to participate in these seminars

Two other regional seminars for judges and prosecutors will take place on 26-28 March 2003 on the same topic in the Nis region. 

20 District Court judges from Novi Sad Region
10 District Public Prosecutors from Novi Sad Region 

Ms Ingrid Blaauw, Judge, Vice-President of Regional Court of Zwolle (the Netherlands)
Ms Lucy Moorman, Barrister, Doughty Street Chamber, London (United Kingdom)
 

Ms Lejla Dervisagic, Media Division, Directorate General of Human Rights
Ms Ljiljana Breberina, Programme Adviser, CoE Office in Belgrade