IDAHO Forum 2015: Regional police and judicial training held in Budva today

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Budva, Montenegro (10 May 2015) -- Regional Police and Judicial Training was held earlier today in Budva under the auspices of the IDAHO Forum 2015 titled "Ending Hate Crime and Violence".

Welcome and opening remarks were made by Director of the Police Directorate of Montenegro Slavko Stojanović, Advisor to Montenegro's Prime Minister and Coordinator of IDAHO Forum 2015 Jovan Kojičić, deputy ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania, Mijo Krešić and Elona Hoxha, ODIHR representative Azra Junuzović, Helen Kennedy of ILGA World and Todd Brower of UCLA School of Law Williams Institute.

The event focused on combating hate crime and bias-motivated violence against LGBTI people. Montenegro is among countries that have developed global examples of best practice, as emphasised in the opening speeches delivered by representatives of the most prestigious international institutions and partners dealing with this issue.

Video recording: Speech by Director of the Police Directorate of Montenegro Slavko Stojanović

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Five years ago, the Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, as the only institute in the world conducting research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy, began its cooperation with the Montenegro government in creating and exchanging best practice regarding police officers' training programmes. Toronto police, Egale Canada, Amsterdam police and ILGA Europe joined the programme, which became a distinctive mechanism that ranks Montenegro among progressive countries.

Over time, numerous international partners, namely Gallop UK, ILGA World and Centre for the Judiciary, joined the government's initiative that became globally recognisable.

The key message of the training is that it is necessary to make police and judiciary understand the matter in a way that any action in these cases requires knowledge about real life of the LGBTI community. The training focused on practical skill and information to permit police officers, judges and prosecutors make the best informed decisions on this issue, without having misconceptions about the LGBT community.

The training programme, sponsored by the Government and Police Directorate of Montenegro, brought together 62 representatives of Montenegro's police and judiciary, as well as the countries from the region (Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Albania).