Period
January 2015 – December 2016
Project
European Commission
Objectives
The project aims to develop an innovative model of experiential learning targeted to the needs of law enforcement authorities (police officers, judges/prosecutors and legal practitioners) that deal with racist crime, hate crime and homophobic crime. This innovative approach goes beyond traditional approaches to capacity building, by placing emphasis on the ‘lived experience’ of crime and a learning process where knowledge is generated through experience. The objectives of the project are:
• To transfer to judges, police officers and legal practitioners knowledge and skills on racist crime, hate and homophobic crime through experiential training modules and training material, freely replicable upon completion of the project
• To promote anti-racist ethos in law enforcement bodies through a network of “champions” selected among the trainees
• To promote networking and exchange of good practice through the network of ‘champions’, good practice manuals and model protocols for handling such crimes
• To disseminate the knowledge and material produced through the project and make it available for further use
The module and training material developed will be piloted in Greece, Hungary and Italy on selected groups of police officers, judges and legal practitioners directly involved in handling racist crimes. The training seminars will allow the identification of ‘anti-racism champions’ that will be further trained on practices and ways to promote ‘anti-racist’ ethos within their organizations. The exchange of best practice will be encouraged through manuals and model protocols for handling racist, hate and homophobic crime. Dissemination and awareness of the project results will take place through a website, the networks of the project partners and awareness events organized in each country. At the end of the project the training modules and training material will be available for free use to any interested organization across Europe.
The expected results of the project include: a) ‘experiential’ training modules and material on hate and related crime designed, piloted and available for free use b) 90 Judges, 90 law enforcement officers and 90 legal practitioners from 3 countries trained c) a network of ‘champions’ formed and trained d) good practice material ready and available for use e) awareness raised within the target groups in the partner countries.
Implementing Institutions
• Centre for European Constitutional Law – Themistocles and Dimitris Tsatsos Foundation
• ANTIGONE – Information and Documentation Center on Racism, Ecology, Peace and Non Violence, Greece
• Greek Council for Refugees, Greece
• Art.1, Netherlands
• COSPE, Italy
• Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Hungary
