On 14-18 May 2024, the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the Human Rights Commission under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, organised a Spring school on human rights and environment for law students from the Central Asia region. The 41 law students who participated in the Spring school represented 14 law faculties from the five countries of the region: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

The objective of the Spring school was to familiarise the participants with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights on environment and climate change and provide them with a comprehensive overview of the global developments in the field, including international legal instruments applicable in their countries.

The Spring school was opened by Mr Sayasat Nurbek, Minister of Higher Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, who underlined the importance given by Kazakhstan to legal education and human rights and indicated green economy as one of the country’s priorities. Mr Igor Rogov, Chairman of the Human Rights Commission under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, encouraged all students, regardless of their specialisation, to acquire a minimum knowledge of human rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. Mr Kestutis Jankauskas, Ambassador of the European Union to Kazakhstan, referred to the numerous environment programmes in Central Asia supported by the EU and the intention to include universities in the programmes.

Over the five days of the Spring school, European and international experts, including a Judge of the European Court of Human Rights, presented lectures and engaged the participants in interactive discussions and practical workshops. On the last day of the School, the participants had the opportunity to put into practice the obtained knowledge at a simulated court hearing and received certificates of participation issued by the Council of Europe.

The activity was organised in the framework of the action "HELP in Central Asia" within the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme 2020-2024, a joint initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.

Since the EU's new Central Asia strategy was adopted in 2019, the EU and the Council of Europe launched in 2020 the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme, an 8.8 million EUR programme aimed at improving the lives of citizens of central Asian countries by reinforcing human rights, rule of law, and democracy in accordance with European and other international standards.

Since the EU’s Central Asia Strategy was adopted in 2007, EU Member States launched a number of interventions in the Central Asia region in support of the rule of law sector. At the EU level, the Rule of Law Initiative (RLI) for Central Asia, co-led by France and Germany, was implemented through the EU-funded Rule of Law Platform (RLP) programme. The RLP intervention was implemented in two phases: from December 2011 to December 2014 and from February 2015 to February 2018.

Since the EU-Central Asia Connectivity Conference for Sustainable Development held in Samarkand in 2022, the EU has launched two EU Global Gateway flagship initiatives on Water, Energy, and Climate and on Digital Connectivity, which have the potential to contribute greatly to Central Asia’s green transition and to enhance Central Asian businesses and citizens’ access to a secure internet through trusted satellite connectivity.

Via the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme, our support to Civil Society and the Global Gateway Team Europe Initiatives in Central Asia, by collaborating with our Central Asian partners, we aim to create societies where the rule of law is a cornerstone, ensuring that justice is accessible to all, the environment is protected, and digital rights and access to the internet promoted.