On August 27–29, 2026, a three-day training for law faculty lecturers titled “Integration of Human Rights and Rule of Law Standards into Legal Education” took place in Kyiv. The event was organized within the framework of joint Council of Europe projects (including the HELP Programme) in cooperation with the OSCE Support Programme for Ukraine.
The Department of International, European and Comparative Law of the Academic and Research Institute of Law of Sumy State University was represented by Associate Professors Anna Slavko, Mariia Plotnikova, and senior lecturer Olha Shvaher.
The training aimed to enhance the capacity of Ukrainian law schools to effectively integrate Council of Europe standards, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and the decisions of the European Committee of Social Rights into academic courses, as well as to implement modern interactive, psychological, and pedagogical teaching methodologies.
During the thematic sessions, the training participants explored in detail:
- European law teaching methodologies and HELP platform courses tailored to wartime challenges;
- mechanisms for the protection of rights under the European Social Charter (with the participation of Alla Fedorova, member of the European Committee of Social Rights);
- tools for integrating gender-sensitive approaches and materials on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV);
- practical models of reparation for war damage and the activities of the Register of Damage for Ukraine (RD4U);
- topical doctrinal issues of international law in the context of armed aggression and accountability for war crimes;
- psychological and pedagogical approaches to fostering professional legal reasoning among higher education students.
Leading experts and practitioners joined the discussion on practical competencies of law graduates, including Oleksandr Vodiannikov, Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, international experts of the Council of Europe, and specialists from specialized think tanks.
The acquired experience, methodological developments, and practical case studies will be implemented into the department’s curricula. We express our gratitude to the organizers of the event for this excellent experience and continue working together to advance the quality of legal education in Ukraine.
