“Improving human rights qualifications within the field of International and European Union law” – first lectures

The Association of Polish Lawyers in Lithuania together with the European Foundation of Human Rights set out series of lectures due to the development of ‘Improving abilities regarding human rights within international law and European Union law’ project. All lectures are free and open to all.

Two keynote lectures were delivered on the 29^th and the 30^th of October 2010 by dr Łukasz Wardyn who is an EFHR’s expert (he is also a former lecturer of international  and European law at Kozminski University and a post-doctoral fellow of Harvard University in 2009).

The first meeting with dr Łukasz Wardyn  took place on the 29^th of October in the building of the branch of the University of Bialystok in Vilnius located on 143 Kalvarijų Street in Vilnius. 63 participants attended the lecture. A majority of them were students of University of Białystok.

Spelling of names and surnames is the main problem that was discussed during the first lecture. It was mentioned that companies in Lithuania are allowed to use non-Lithuanian diacritics, whereas private individuals cannot use such marks in their identity cards and other documents. This issue was discussed on the basis of international legal instruments. Moreover,  hearers were given some solutions what to do in order to obtain the right for the original spelling of their names and surnames.

During the second day of lectures the information about main international organizations was presented.  The United Nations, The European Union and the Council of Europe were considered in the context of human rights and rights of national minorities.

Attendees stressed that lectures provided them not only with knowledge that is available on the Internet but also with specific examples. In addition, lectures enabled them to further analyze their own situation as well as a situation of an entire national minority in Lithuania. Attendees expressed their willingness to claim their rights in Lithuanian institutions and to apply to the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union.

“Improving human rights qualifications within the field of International and European Union law” lectures will last until the end of December 2010. A total of 15 lectures is going to take place as a part of the project.

EFHR