The Right to a Fair Trial Highlighted During Law Forum in Serbia
On 6-7 March, the second Rule of Law Forum for South-East Europe, was held in Belgrade. The aim with the Forum, organised by Civil Rights Defenders and AIRE Center, is to open up for a dialogue on implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights in Southeast European countries.
Representatives from regional human rights organisations and the judiciary, such as the European Court of Human Rights, participated in the event. This years’ forum focused on Article 6 of the Convention, which guarantees the right to a fair trial.
“The right to a fair trial is one of our fundamental rights and certainly one which could be implemented more efficiently in the region. Without any exceptions, we must do our utmost so that everyone has access to justice in region”, says Goran Miletic, Programme Director for the Western Balkans at Civil Rights Defenders.
The second Rule of Law Forum is the first large-scale event ever to be held in Serbia, which gathered distinguished participants from the judiciary and legal experts from civil society. This year, more then a hundred representatives from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, participated in the event.
The first Rule of Law Forum was held in Montenegro in March 2014 and is considered to be a milestone. It was the first event where countries in the region established cooperation on such a high level and exchanged experiences and best practices in the field of human rights implementation.
