Autumn School on Refugee Protection

An autumn school on refugee protection took place on 6-7 November 2024. The continuous training activity, organized by the National Institute of Justice in partnership with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), was intended for judges and representatives of the General Migration Inspectorate to strengthen their knowledge and professional capacities when examining asylum applications and ensuring compliance with the principle of speed in these cases.

At the opening, Bertrand Blanc, UNHCR deputy representative, Ecaterina Popa, head of the Training and Research Directorate of the National Institute of Justice, Katelijne Declerck, judge from the Kingdom of Belgium, ex-president of the International Association of Judges specialized in the field of Migration and Refugees, took the floor. In her message, Ecaterina Popa highlighted the importance of the training program that was organized at the request of the Superior Council of the Magistracy, considering the context of emerging legal situations in this segment.

The training sessions were delivered by Katelijne Declerck, Judge, Andrew Painter, Senior Protection Officer, and Sabina Sandu, Assistant Protection Officer from the UHCHR, as well as Aliona Miron, Member of the Superior Council of the Magistracy, and Oleg Palii, Executive Director of the Advocates Law Centre.

During two days, a series of relevant topics were addressed, such as global migration and international refugee law, aspects of the asylum procedure in the judicial phase and the sources of law in the Republic of Moldova, the problems and challenges encountered in judging asylum applications, etc.