organised by Institute for Law and Society INPRIS

Co-funded by the European Union

Overview

In recent years, the jurisprudence of the European courts concerning judges and the systemic guarantees of judicial independence has increased.

However, prosecutors do not enjoy the same level of independence as judges, although they have recently begun to organise themselves and take a more active part in public debate. Often, they are disciplined or repressed for becoming active and speaking out.

The main themes of the seminar will therefore be a practical analysis of European case law on the freedom of expression of prosecutors and the presentation of models for the functioning of prosecutors’ associations operating in the EU.

Speakers representing different EU Member States and prosecution models will provide key recommendations and insights.

The seminar is part of the TRIIAL 2 project, which aims to disseminate knowledge of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union among legal practitioners, in particular judges and prosecutors.

Programme

Friday 12 April

15:30 – 16:00 Welcome and opening, introduction to TRIIAL2 and TRIIAL projects by members of TRIIAL 2 consortium.

Welcome words from Polish Minister of Justice and Prosecutors Office (tbc)

16:00-18:00 Panel 1. “The prosecutor’s office in Member States – independence, systemic position, European (MS) models” – presentations by guests [(members of the boards of MEDEL, Lex Super Omnia Association Poland (TBA)]

18:00-18:15 Coffee break

18:15-19:15 Working groups – 1^st hypothetical

20:00 Dinner

Saturday 13 April

9:00-10:30 Panel 2: “Mutual trust and the independence of prosecutors (introduction on recent jurisprudence on freedom of expression and association of judges and prosecutors” – Jakub Jaraczewski, DRI) followed by a discussion.

10:30-10:50 Coffee break

10:50-12:30 Working groups – 2^nd hypothetical

12:30-13:30 Roundtable discussion on hypotheticals

13:30-14:15 Lunch break

14:15-15:30 “Lessons learned on judicial resistance in Poland – what about prosecutors?” Lecture by Lukasz Bojarski (INPRIS/University of Oslo) followed by discussion and closing remarks.

Cross-border training event for prosecutors and judges, 12-13 April 2024, organized by INPRIS – Institute for Law and Society residential + online mode

Framework: This workshop is offered within the European Commission’s funded project TRIIAL 2 – Trust, Independence, Impartiality and Accountability of Legal professionals under the EU Charter (project no. 101089737, JUST-JTRA-EJTR-AG-2020). The TRIIAL 2 Project provides training activities and tools for judges, attorneys, and prosecutors on the European rule of law, mutual trust, judicial independence, impartiality and accountability (see the dedicated website here).

Target group

Public prosecutors and legal practitioners from European Union (EU) countries. The training will be in English and opened to those with both basic and experienced knowledge of EU law and ECHR jurisprudence.

The Workshop will host 40 participants, of which 15 will be in person and 25 online.

Participation is free of charge.

For the 15 in-person participants, the travel, accommodation, and meals at the venue are covered by the organizer.

Participants will be provided with certificates of participation.

Application

The deadline for the submission of applications is 8^th of March 2024.

Submit your application here: https://forms.gle/drnVpCsNy5aras4z9

You should mention in the title of your email whether you want to participate in-person or online.

Italian prosecutors are invited to submit their applications to: internazionale@scuolamagistratura.it. For questions, please contact Gianluca Grasso at: gianluca.grasso@giustizia.it

Romanian attorneys and prosecutors are invited to submit their applications to: veronica.morecut@unbr.ro.

The following information shall be submitted in the form:

1. Short CV in English (including a section on proof of knowledge of English)
2. A short motivation letter outlining the candidate’s specific reasons for applying to a workshop (please describe how your professional activity correlates to the workshop’s field of interest and how you could both benefit from and contribute to the Workshop in this field)

For questions regarding the Workshop and the project, contact: joanna.gadek@inpris.pl

Selection Procedure

The assessment of applications will be based on the following criteria:

1. Gender and age balanced;
2. Geographically balanced;
3. Balance in the judicial/prosecutors hierarchy: both higher and lower instance courts/prosecutors’ offices shall be represented among selected participants;
4. Trainers will have priority in selection (please refer to relevant training responsibilities in your CV);
5. Knowledge of and experience with fundamental rights and rule of law issues;
6. Good knowledge of English;
7. Single participation within the same Training Project (TRIIAL 2): in principle, no participant can take part in more than one Workshop among those offered within the TRIIAL 2 Project.

Insitute for Law and Society will select 40 legal practitioners. After the exhaustion of the 15 in person places, the remaining ones will be allocated to online participation.

The selected applicants will be informed by end of 11^th of March.

Outcome of the Workshop

• You will receive a certificate of participation.
• You will be able to understand and explain the main legal issues relating to the European rule of law (the training’s “core”).

You will be also able:

• to understand and explain the main legal issues relating to the European rule of law;
• to acquire the knowledge and the ability to assess the European legal pathways for defending freedom of expression and association of prosecutors;
• to understand the threats to the rule of law from outside and from within the judiciary and prosecutors’ office and executive, and your role in upholding this fundamental EU value;
• to become familiar with the ECtHR standards concerning freedom of expression and association of prosecutors and with the recent CJEU case-law, providing a new avenue for protection of this right;
• to understand the different underlying premises that govern the freedom of expression and association of different groups of professionals within the legal system;
• to become familiar with the national case law concerning freedom of expression and association of prosecutors;
• to determine, whether the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU is applicable in a certain case or not;
• to become part of a network of legal practitioners, activists and scholars dealing with similar issues that could provide support for future questions.