The establishment of rigorous procedural safeguards for suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings is a primary guarantee of their fair trial rights and a major component of the EU criminal law agenda.
“Breaking the Barriers” strengthens procedural rights established in the EU ‘Roadmap’ Directives, through the training of judges and prosecutors with limited participation in international trainings due to language barriers. The project promotes judicial cooperation and mutual learning among three EU Member States – Austria, Greece and Spain.
The project addresses specific concerns relating to gaps in judicial training in Europe, namely:
- the limited participation of justice professionals in trainings abroad their respective jurisdictions;
- the language barrier leading to limited participation in trainings conducted in English;
- the issue of double counting (participation of the same professionals in multiple trainings);
To tackle these issues effectively, “Breaking the Barriers” employs interactive, experiential training methodologies emphasizing the target groups’ role as the primary implementers of EU law. Towards the attainment of the project goals, we will
- assess the current training needs of judges and prosecutors in Greece, Spain and Austria;
- design tailored, modern, practically applicable training materials, using new methods and new technologies;
- train judicial trainers in order to enable them to act as multipliers;
- increase the number of judges and prosecutors trained in EU procedural rights in countries with low participation scores, through provision of training to 120 judges and prosecutors in Greece, Spain and Austria, with so far limited participation in transnational trainings due to language barriers;
- disseminate the results of the project in Greece, Spain, Austria and Brussels.
The project outcomes include:
- 12 judicial trainers trained to deliver trainings on EU procedural rights for suspects and accused persons
- 120 judges and prosecutors trained in transnational trainings
- 3 sets of training material for
- trainers,
- acting judges & prosecutors and
- trainee judges & prosecutors
- Increased knowledge of procedural rights for an additional 120 persons, including multipliers, through dissemination events
On this site you can find information on project activities, download training manuals, consult our comprehensive brochure on the EU Roadmap Directives and have access to training materials for judicial trainers, for acting judges and prosecutors and for trainee judges and prosecutors.