Training session of the Courts of Peace Observers

Monitoring of the courts of peace demands that monitoring executers “on the ground” – the court observers – were highly professional with a broad range of knowledge and life skills. Therefore before the commence of the monitoring in Perm region the Institute of Law and Public Policy together with “Agency Expertiza” and Fund “Civil Position” organized a training with twenty primary selected court observers. A session was opened by Lyubov Ezhova, a team leader of the Project, Olga Tsodikovich, deputy chair of the Judiciary Council of Perm Region and Marina Agaltsova, Project coordinator.

The first day of the training was dedicated to the detailed study of the monitoring methodology. First, Lyubov Ezhova elaborated on the main principles of the monitoring, such as non-interference, confidentiality and focus only on the court procedure (the monitoring does not intend to focus on substance of the proceedings). Then each question of the monitoring mythology was carefully reviewed to ensure that monitoring is efficient. In the second day Julia Tarasova, a team leader of the psychological service in the Justice Academy, conducted a psychological training, which aimed at equipping the court observers with the necessary psychological tools to guarantee high professionalism of the monitoring. In particular, the court observers were introduced to such notions as emotional intellect, channels of information reception, boundaries in relations and rules of personal safety.