The partners are all associations of lawyers selected on the basis of their commitment to being part of a project that deals with problems common to all EU Member States. Some of them have also previously participated in EU training programmes for lawyers.
The objective of the programme is to train 30 lawyers per partner bar association in the representation of minors in criminal, administrative and civil proceedings. That is a total of 180 lawyers. The support and representation of children by lawyers in legal proceedings which affect them must be efficient. In order to achieve this, the lawyers must have received effective specialised training.
The training of these lawyers involves the organisation of six seminars of the same quality in the six partner Member States. The 30 lawyers in each of the Member States will be selected by the partners on the basis of standard criteria, such as experience in proceedings involving children and level of English.
These lawyers will receive comprehensive training enabling them to offer training to other colleagues in this field.
The goal of the project is to improve knowledge of the rights of children among lawyers (at national and EU levels), to provide training in youth justice and to create a group of expert lawyers in the field, able to serve as the leading authorities on the subject in their respective countries, represent minors in the legal system, and advise and train their colleagues in this field.
The longer-term goal is the creation of a European network of children's lawyers who will be able to share experience and best practice in the subject, and who will also promote this network at national level.
