Fundamental Rights of the European Union MOOCs
e-NACT MOOCs
The e-learning National Active Charter Training (e-NACT) Project is a DG Justice supported project providing for a training methodology and training activities that, coupled with the expertise of the trainers involved, foster the emergence and consolidation of a common culture of fundamental rights. Its main objective is to assist national legal practitioners to become familiar with the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: by discussing with academics and with foreign colleagues their difficulties or good practices with respect to the application of the EU Charter, legal practitioners deepen their understanding and equip themselves with new instruments and notions to use it effectively.
The e-NACT project aims to create an easy-to-use training toolkit for judges, lawyers and other legal practitioners consisting of traditional and e-learning elements.
Content
Altogether, there are five e-NACT Courses:
- Crash course on the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (1 week)
- Freedom of expression (5 weeks)
- Fundamental Social rights in the European Union (5 weeks)
- Children’s rights in the EU Charter (5 weeks)
- La protection des droits des enfants dans le cadre de la Charte des droits fondamentaux de l'Union européenne (5 semaines)
- The European Charter of Fundamental Rights and Data Protection in the European legal framework (5 weeks)
- Asylum and Immigration Detention: The Protection of Fundamental Rights in the European Union (5 weeks)
The series of five MOOCs focused on five different fundamental rights offered by the e-NACT project aims at bringing to the attention of lawyers (both practicing and in training), and of the fundamental rights community at large, the ways in which the EU Charter can aid in approaching and meeting the challenges to fundamental rights in the European Union.
The courses are designed with an assumption that the learners following them will have had the basic knowledge of human and fundamental rights system in the European Union. Yet, should they wish to refresh their knowledge, a one-week Crash course on the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is included in the project. This additional course is designed as a revision of the prior knowledge and as such is not subject to the evaluation in the framework of the e-NACT MOOCs.
Methodology
Each of the courses features the theoretical knowledge on specific rights, their construction as provided for by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the permissible limitations. This rather theoretical approach is complemented by practical insights delivered by a variety of experts: judges, academics, NGOs activists.
The participants are invited to interact with the training material and to put themselves in the position of the judges called to adjudicate on the matters related to fundamental rights at stake. They can compare the results of the exercise with the actual judgements delivered in cases that inspired the e-NACT case studies and also follow the implications of these for the general system of fundamental rights protection in Europe.
It is hoped that the examples will inspire present and future lawyers in their work emphasizing strategies and the possibilities to enhance European Union fundamental rights space and community. A key feature of the project is that the courses are based on the ongoing exchanges between the judges, lawyers and academics that have been taking place since 2011 under the auspices of the Centre for Judicial Cooperation based at the European University Institute. They feature numerous case studies that source from the rich experience and research of our experts and collaborators. These courses (which can be completed with a certificate) are designed in a manner in which they can either complement or provide basis for residential training.
Learning objectives
Upon completion of this course participants will have acquired:
- Knowledge about international standards for the protection of the five fundamental rights explored in the five e-NACT courses. Learners will gain insights into the issues related to the applicability of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in the Member States’ contexts.
- Awareness of European Union fundamental rights regime in its substantive and procedural aspects. Learners will explore the role of various courts, their interactions and the related strategical approaches which can be devised in order to ensure to individuals the highest standard of fundamental rights protection.
- Knowledge of some practical strategies guiding the judges and lawyers in adopting specific approaches when dealing with the variety of challenges to specific fundamental rights
Certificate of participation
At the end of each course, participants who have successfully completed the final quiz and tackled 3 ‘Check your knowledge’ challenges will receive a free certificate confirming their participation.
Target Audience
Coordination
This MOOC series is coordinated by Dr. Karolina Podstawa (University of Maastricht) together with the Global Campus of Human Rights Team devoted to online programmes.
The five courses have been prepared by a team of experts associated with the Centre for Judicial Cooperation representing partners in the e-NACT project. They engage participants of, and build on, five trans-national residential trainings dedicated to the five fundamental rights of our interest. The trainings took place between June 2018 and February 2019.
The Centre for Judicial Cooperation is hosted by the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and since January 2016 has been headed by Professor Deirdre Curtin. The Centre developed a wide network of judges, lawyers and scholars, for the purpose of establishing a space for collaboration and exchange of knowledge between legal practitioners and the academic community on topics related to judicial interaction across various areas of law. Through its activities and expertise, the Centre engages with both practitioners and academics within various activities ranging from workshops and conferences to pure research and policy endeavours. Its key areas of research consist of the exploration of legal and judicial interactions in the area of fundamental rights, in various thematic areas, including, inter alia migration and asylum law, data protection, and non-discrimination.
The Global Campus of Human Rights, responsible for the delivery of the courses, is one of many international and national institutions, which participate in the e-NACT project. The entire consortium is composed of the following institutions: Belgian Judicial Training Institute; European Inter-University Centre; Free University of Brussels; Italian School for the Magistracy; Lisbon Centre for Research in Public Law; National Association of the Romanian Bars; Odysseus Network; University of Florence; University of Ljubjana; University of Parma; University of Pompeu Fabra.