On 19 April 2018, the Human Rights Committee (HRC) of the ECBA met in Oslo for its inaugural meeting, kindly hosted by the Norwegian Bar Association.

 Building on its recent interventions in cases of lawyers at risk due to their professional work (see previous press releases on the cases of Salih Akinci and Robert Rosu) and on its protest against threats to the  system of human rights protection in Europe, the HRC discussed its areas of focus and activities going forward in pursuit of its mission of promoting human rights in the field of criminal justice in the Council of Europe region.

 The HRC expects to be active across a range of fair trials, procedural rights and cross-border justice issues, with a particular focus on matters such as lawyers at risk, development and reform of the EAW, plea bargaining, interventions before the ECtHR and other courts where appropriate and pre-trial detention. It anticipates increased action at the national and European level and looks forward to engaging with key institutions and NGOs across the region now and in the future.

 For more information, please contact the HRC via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.