HELP course

HELP course on Radicalisation Prevention

The Council of Europe (CoE) Human Rights Training Programme for Legal Professionals (HELP) aims to support CoE member states in the implementation of European human rights standards (CoE and EU) at national level by increasing the capacities of legal professionals to apply these instruments in their daily work.  

HELP aims to provide high quality human rights training to judges, prosecutors and other professionals through online courses which enable legal practitioners to better apply and keep up to date with the evolving standards and jurisprudence of the CoE and the EU.  

Background and Justification

Cross-border crime, risks to public security and increased radicalisation leading to violent extremism and terrorism in EU Member States (MS) continue to occur, along with violations of fundamental rights. The increasingly open area of free movement in the EU could be abused by criminals (including terrorists) to pursue their objectives. The criminal justice response to these phenomena needs to be improved.  

The EU and the CoE work together in the field of criminal affairs. Given the global nature of cross-border crime, an effective response to this challenge, respecting human rights and allowing citizens to live in an area of freedom, security and justice, requires intensive international cooperation. In this regard, it is essential to improve the coordination of investigations and prosecutions and cooperation between the competent authorities of Member States, by facilitating the execution of international requests for mutual legal assistance and the execution of extradition requests.

The Project

The HELP project ‘Radicalisation prevention, judicial response to terrorism and international cooperation in criminal matters’ (HELP RP-TERR-ICCM) is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Council of Europe through its HELP programme, in partnership with the Confederation of European Probation (CEP).

The main objective of the project is to improve judicial cooperation in criminal matters and to contribute to the effective and coherent implementation of related European instruments by increasing the capacities and mutual trust of legal practitioners. The emphasis is on transnational cooperation and the following priorities: mutual recognition of instruments; judicial responses to terrorism, in particular on strengthening the prevention of radicalisation, mainly in prisons; issues related to pre-trial detention, in particular to raise awareness of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR); the functioning of European and other international legal instruments/treaties on international cooperation in criminal matters.  

This project strengthens the EU criminal justice systems through (i) the development and implementation in selected EU countries of a series of cross-border seminars/course launches and (ii) a high-level conference promoting mutual learning. These events will provide a unique opportunity for legal practitioners to exchange experiences and good practices with a multinational and transnational approach.  

Description of the Activity

This is one of a series of course launches under the Project that will be organised online for different EU member states. The HELP course on Radicalisation Prevention is launched for 44 participants within probation staff from the Czech Republic under the guidance of tutor Mgr. Martin Lýsek, judge of the Regional Court in Olomouc. This course is available in Czech language, the selection of participants is provided by national organizations (Probation and Mediation Service).  

Due to the exceptional circumstances generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, course launch held online on Wednesday, 16 June 2021.  The course was completed on 22 September 2021.

The HELP course on Prevention of Radicalisation is open to probation staff, who will follow it with the help of a tutor, and includes 5 compulsory modules (*) and 3 complementary ones, as follows:

  • Module 1: Introduction: general description and concepts*.
  • Module 2: The international and European legal framework*.
  • Module 3: Issues related to criminal procedure.
  • Module 4: The collection and use of evidence in counter-terrorism cases.
  • Module 5: Generic for prison and probation services*.
  • Module 6: Specific for prison services.
  • Module 7: Specific for probation services*.
  • Module 8: Managing Foreign National Prisoners.

The course is available in Czech.