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Description
Programme outcome the project contributes to: “Improved application of European legal framework by the Bulgarian judiciary”.
The project aims at the creation of an integrated, coordinated and structured learning environment for judges, prosecutors and other legal professionals, ensuring effective implementation of the European law and the fundamental standards.
The project shall include, inter alia, the following activities:
- Reinforcement of the Magistrates’ forum for human rights;
- Elaboration of framework for sustainable judicial training on fundamental rights and rule of law for judges, prosecutors and other legal professionals;
- Strengthening competences and skills of judges, prosecutors and other legal professionals in application of the fundamental rights through provision of in-person and e-learning trainings, blended round table discussions and support with reference materials and publications;
- Development of easily accessible and up-to-date practical reference tools which includes preparation of handbooks, manuals and reference guides with systematic, up-do-date synthesis of legislation and case-law on specific subject matters;
- Development of a responsive website of NIJ answering the new technologies;
- Adoption of an innovative model of in-work judicial training through establishment of shared learning spaces in the judiciary.
Summary of project results
The project meets the needs for providing an appropriate training environment for Bulgarian magistrates and other persons working in the field of justice as a prerequisite for effective implementation of European law and established standards for the protection of human rights.
The project activities are aimed at improved implementation of the European legal framework by the Bulgarian judicial system including development of self-learning resources and an innovative model for on-the-job training.
Activity 1 Establishment of a framework for sustainable judicial training in the field of fundamental rights and the rule of law". The activity is implemented in cooperation with the Norwegian Courts Administration. In the framework of the activity, a working group was formed, composed of judges, prosecutors and other experts, to develop theframework. The project team and the NCA partners conducted an online research visit of the working group, in the form of a virtual exchange of professional experiences and good practices. The presentations, the discussions and conclusions of the visit as well as the results of the survey on the completed training needs were further reviewed and analysed by the working group. Subsequently, the findings and recommendations were incorporated into the finalised framework for sustainable judicial training in the field of fundamental rights and the rule of law.
Activity 2 of the project is „Strengthening the skills and competences of judges, prosecutors, investigating magistrates and other legal professionals to apply fundamental rights”. Within the framework of the activity, 36trainings and discussions have been held involving 2414 judges, prosecutors, investigating magistrates and other legal professionals (target set in the Programme Agreement is 270).
Activity 3 included the development of self-learning resources (guides, manuals and support materials) for the development of knowledge, skills and competencies of legal professionals, taking into consideration the Judicial training standards for the effective performance of the professions of judge, prosecutor, investigating magistrate and the position of administrative chair in the judiciаl bodies, adopted by the NIJ Management Board, as well as the results from Activity 1.
Under Activity 4 the project strengthened and upgraded the Human rights forum as a sustainable platform for the exchange of up-to-date information, professional knowledge and experience in implementing the established standards for the protection of fundamental rights. The activity is implemented in cooperation with the Norwegian Courts Administration. A platform on judicial ethics was upgraded - https://judicialethicsplatform.nij.bg/.
Activity 5 of the project was related to the application of innovative in-work judicial training model and the elaboration of shared training spaces for the development of knowledge, skills and competencies.The specifics of the activity related to carrying out procurement procedures for technical equipment. 13 new shared learning spaces were established in the premises of the judiciary in the country.
Interactive and multifunctional website is in operation as a result of Activity 6 "Development of a new NIJ website. Provision of technical equipment to support training activities and strengthen the institutional capacity of the Institute".
The results achieved are in line with the project''s objective of providing a supportive learning environment for Bulgarian magistrates and other legal professionals. The completed activities cover a wide range of initiatives aimed at improving the knowledge, skills and competences of magistrates to effectively apply European law and established standards for the protection of human rights at national level. The implementation of the project contributed to the modernisation of the training process by integrating it into the working environment.
In different forms, the activities and the working visits promoted the process of training and self-learning through the application of innovative models of interaction and exchange of experience between the trainees, seeing this as an important tool for the development of their knowledge, skills and competences.
The translation into Bulgarian of specialized literature and reference materials and the development of self-learning resources have created a solid basis for building professional expertise. The authorship of over 100 distinguished academics and experts and of scientific editors, who set the general guidelines for the development of the learning content, provided a professional guarantee for the consistency of the materials and the uniformity of the terminology used. In this way, the project provided Bulgarian magistrates and others professionals working in the field of justice with adequate and accessible training resources, enabling them to acquire systematic and in-depth knowledge and exchange up-to-date information and experience.
The project activities have been designed and implemented to ensure institutional and professional sustainability of all parties involved. The investment in intellectual and informational resources, technical support, networking at personal, professional, institutional and inter-institutional levels, in national and international contexts, verified through the different project activities, are the guarantors of a long-lasting effect of the results achieved.
Summary of bilateral results
The project was implemented in partnership with the Norwegian Courts Administration. Throughout the duration of the project, the interaction was active and fruitful, taking place through all channels of communication, oral and written, in person and online. The joint activities were agreed in advance, renegotiated on an ongoing basis, and the commitments were implemented with quality, timeliness and professional expertise. The varied nature of the joint activities included a working visit (online and in-person); expert participation in 3 sessions of a human rights forum; speaker participation in a video conference, together with the shared learning spaces built by the project; expert input to a working group on the development of a framework for sustainable judicial training in the field of fundamental rights and the rule of law. NCA partners took immediate and quality action to implement commitments.