Національна академія внутрішніх справ

On May 18, the final meeting of the summer school within the framework of the Council of Europe project "Legal Education in the Field of Freedom of Speech in Ukraine" took place online.

The project was attended by representatives of leading higher education institutions of Ukraine of legal profile, as well as the Supreme Court of Ukraine, the National Academy of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor`s Training Center of Ukraine.

The meeting was opened by Patrick Pennings, Head of the Department of Mass Media and Information Society of the Council of Europe.

Pavlo Pushkar, Head of the Enforcement Division of the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe and Shain Abbasov, Program Manager of the Information Society Department of the Council of Europe, have also spoken thanking Ukrainian partners for supporting Council of Europe projects and noting the participation and role of the National Academy of Internal Affairs in their implementation in Ukraine.

In his welcoming speech, the rector of the NAIA, General of Police of the second rank Volodymyr Cherniei, confirmed the importance of the project for the development of the media industry and stressed on the need to continue cooperation with European institutions in the field of human rights, freedom of speech and security of journalists, the importance of a real dialogue between the authorities and the media in order to prevent any speculation and manipulation. He noted that the relevant initiatives of the Academy have already been supported by the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other law enforcement agencies of Ukraine.

In particular, since 2017, a number of targeted seminars and trainings for police officers, prosecutors and judges have been held at the Academy's locations in Kyiv and Ivano-Frankivsk with the assistance of the Office of the Council of Europe. The results of this work were highly appreciated during the visit of the Ukrainian delegation to Strasbourg.

Together with the specialists of the Training Center for Prosecutors and the National School of Judges, the training course is currently being completed, and a manual on the safety of journalists has already been prepared. The introduction of this course to the educational process will help raise awareness of law enforcement officers and judges about changes in legislation, and will revive interdepartmental cooperation and communication with the media.

Holding a summer school for higher education institutions on freedom of speech has become another successful project of the Council of Europe in Ukraine. The knowledge gained by the participants will be gladly used in the training of security sector specialists or during applied research on topical legal practice issues.в навчанні фахівців сектору безпеки, під час проведення прикладних досліджень з актуальних проблем юридичної практики.

In conclusion, Volodymyr Cherniei thanked the representatives of the Council of Europe for their support and assured them of the readiness of the National Academy of Internal Affairs to expand cooperation with European partners in the field of freedom of speech and journalism, as well as Academy's interest in further joint projects.

International Cooperation Unit,
Unit for the Organization of Scientific Activity
and Protection of Intellectual Property Rights, NAIA