Other professionals National human rights institutions also train judges, lawyers, parliamentarians, Government officials, journalists, members of NGOs, social workers, doctors, community leaders, etc. Typically, the purpose of training these groups is to ensure that they have the appropriate human rights knowledge and insight to carry out their work effectively. For example, human rights law is not universally taught in all law schools and has often only relatively recently been introduced. Judges and senior lawyers may not have the training necessary to argue human rights cases or apply human rights principles to decisions. An NHRI may wish to fill this training gap. Parliamentarians have the main responsibility for passing laws and promoting and overseeing Government policies and practices. It is important that they should understand human rights principles to ensure that their work is consistent with, and supports, those principles. The media play a crucial role in explaining and defining the issues of the day, and can be a watchdog for executive, parliamentary and judicial action. It is therefore important that they should understand human rights so that they can take a human rights perspective in their work. As with professional training for law enforcement officers, prison officials and the armed forces, a TOT approach may be the most efficient. No. 8/Rev.1 The Istanbul Protocol: Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment No. 9 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers Promoting human rights through seminars/workshops56 A “seminar” is a gathering of individuals who share an interest in a human rights issue primarily for the purpose of sharing information, ideas and knowledge. Several variations are possible: a seminar on “human rights and HIV/AIDS”, for example, might bring together activists to share information and to better define current difficulties and needs. Another may bring together activists and medical practitioners, to discuss the human rights dimensions of the problem so that medical practitioners are better equipped. Here, one purpose is to share information, but also to raise awareness of human rights among medical practitioners in a less formal and threatening environment than a formal training initiative. Finally, a seminar might bring together activists, relevant Government officials and representatives of the medical community in a public session to discuss the issue and raise awareness among the general public. A “workshop” is a gathering of experts on a human rights issue for the purpose of developing a specific product—a recommendation, a plan of action, a declaration, etc.—related to the matter being addressed. To continue the example, a workshop on “human rights and HIV/AIDS” involving activists and Government officials would aim to develop a protocol for ensuring that the human rights of people living with HIV/AIDS are protected in employment. Workshops tend to be more formal and result-driven than seminars and may require the services of a strong facilitator to ensure results. Workshops assume that there is sufficient common understanding and acceptance of the human rights issues involved by the participants to ensure that a positive result can be achieved. For the purpose of this publication, the definitions of “workshop” and “seminar” set out in Professional training series No. 6, Human Rights Training: A Manual on Human Rights Training Methodology (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.00.XIV.1) will be used. 56 66