The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom have launched a free global online course designed to strengthen the capacity of judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and other judicial actors to protect freedom of expression, access to information, and ensure the safety of journalists
The five-week Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Freedom of Expression for Judicial Actors will begin on October 5, 2026, and run until November 9, with participants able to complete the course at their own pace until December 7.
The 2026 programme is the third edition of the UNESCO-Oxford course, following previous editions in 2021 and 2023, which attracted more than 11,000 judicial actors.
The new edition is designed to equip members of the justice system with a deeper understanding of international and regional standards governing freedom of expression and their application to contemporary challenges, particularly those arising in the digital environment.
According to UNESCO, the course is open to judges, prosecutors, lawyers, members of judicial training institutions, law students, and other members of the judicial community, while the University of Oxford has also indicated that journalists, academics, and other professionals around the world with an interest in the subject are welcome to participate.
The course will comprise five weekly modules addressing key areas of international and regional protection of freedom of expression. The first module will examine the general principles and scope of freedom of expression, including the international legal framework underpinning the right, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and relevant regional human rights regimes.
The second module will focus on limitations on freedom of expression, examining when restrictions on speech may be legitimate under international and regional human rights standards and how courts have approached such restrictions.
The third module will address access to information, including the legal frameworks protecting the right and its importance to democratic political processes and sustainable development.
The fourth module will focus on the safety of journalists and impunity, including the physical risks faced by journalists and specific threats confronting women journalists.
The final module, on digitalisation, will examine contemporary challenges to freedom of expression arising from online communication and consider how existing legal frameworks apply in the digital environment, including issues associated with State and private regulation of online spaces.
Each module will include background learning materials, comprehension quizzes, discussion forums, and a pre-recorded webinar, while the course will also feature judges and members of regional and international human rights courts, senior legal practitioners, academics, and representatives of international organisations as guest speakers.
The organisers said the course comes at a time when judicial systems are increasingly required to adjudicate disputes involving online expression, digital platforms, emerging technologies, privacy, access to information, and new forms of pressure on journalists.
UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, Mariya Gabriel, noted that protecting freedom of expression goes beyond resolving individual legal disputes, saying: “When courts protect freedom of expression, they do much more than resolve individual disputes.”
She described the right as an “enabling right” that allows people to question authorities, seek information, and participate in public life.
UNESCO said the course forms part of its broader work with judicial actors whose decisions can either strengthen or undermine freedom of expression and safety of journalists.
The organisation said that since 2013, in collaboration with its partners, they have trained more than 39,000 judicial actors from 150 countries, as well as more than 13,000 law enforcement agents and security personnel, through online courses and field-based training programmes on freedom of expression and related issues.
The new MOOC builds on UNESCO’s Judges’ Initiative, which seeks to strengthen judicial understanding and application of international standards on freedom of expression, access to information, and the safety of journalists.
The course will be offered in the six official languages of the United Nations, namely Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish, along with Portuguese.
Participants who successfully complete the course will receive a certificate of completion.
The University of Oxford estimates that participants will need less than two hours per week to complete the course, making it possible for professionals in full-time employment to participate.
The course will be delivered through the edX learning platform, and pre-registration is currently open.
UNESCO has previously developed a “Legal Standards on Freedom of Expression: Toolkit for the Judiciary in Africa”, reflecting the importance it attaches to strengthening judicial capacity on the continent. Its wider freedom-of-expression programme also includes training for judicial actors and law-enforcement officials, and resources addressing journalist safety and impunity.
The course is supported by UNESCO’s Multi-Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists, and represents another component of the organisation’s efforts to strengthen the rule-of-law environment necessary for independent journalism and public access to information.
UNESCO and Oxford said the course is intended ultimately to help translate international human rights standards into practice by equipping those working within justice systems with the knowledge required to protect freedom of expression and related rights.
Registration for the course is open at https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/unesco-oxford-mooc-2026.
