Regional workshop part of building a modern judiciary in South Asia

BMUSONI — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 16:13:00 +0000

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His Lordship K. Sri Pavan, Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, with some of the participants. Photo credit: Official Parliament of Sri Lanka photo by U.G. Nuwan Duminda

“The quality of justice will

[…] depend on the quality of performance of our judges. A competent judiciary is an essential ingredient to develop a modern judicial system, that is credible, transparent, speedy, and of high quality.” These were the words of His Lordship K. Sri Pavan, Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, in his keynote address to participants in a national workshop for judges held at the Sri Lanka Judges’ Institute in Colombo early October.

Participants of the regional workshop.
Photo credit: Official Parliament of Sri Lanka photo by U.G. Nuwan Duminda

The Sri Lankan national workshop was organized on the margins of a Regional workshop on effectively countering terrorism in South Asia, arranged in the country’s capital on 3-5 October 2016. The regional initiative was the 11^th workshop of its kind, and a concrete way to promote cooperation between those that have to enforce the rules and go after the perpetrators of terrorist acts. This year’s workshop specifically focused on the challenges related to foreign terrorist fighters, individuals who travel to a State other than their States of residence or nationality for the purpose of the perpetration, planning, or preparation of, or participation in, terrorist acts or the providing or receiving of terrorist training, including in connection with armed conflict.

The challenges of deterring and bringing terrorists to justice are large in scope and the complexities often discouraging. In South Asia as in all other parts of the world, terrorism is linked to a host of other challenges including the flow of illicit goods and persons – of explosives, illegal funds, and suspected criminals – across borders. Developing the capacity of States, their law enforcement officials and members of the judiciary on both sides of the border to be adequately equipped to deal with these issues requires a cooperative, sustained approach.

Over the last seven years, the regional workshops – jointly organized by the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and the Global Center on Cooperative Security – have involved over 300 senior judges, prosecutors, and police officials representing all of the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries. Donor countries include Australia, Canada, Denmark, India, Sweden, and the United States of America. Also representatives of numerous regional and international organizations have been involved in various ways over the years.

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Regional workshop on bringing terrorists to justice held in Kenya

BMUSONI — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 18:11:00 +0000

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The UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and the Government of Kenya, acting in cooperation with the Global Center on Cooperative Security and in accordance with Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001) and 2178 (2014), held a workshop on “Bringing Terrorists to Justice” from 22 to 24 October 2014 at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, the second of its kind.

The three-day workshop focussed on the conversion of information into evidence in terrorism cases. It notably included an interactive case study, designed to promote the principle of early cooperation and coordination, in which participating police officers and prosecutors worked together to identify and follow-up on investigative leads and develop the elements for a successful prosecution (including the collection of admissible evidence) in the context of preventive terrorist offences.

Around 25 law enforcement and intelligence officers and prosecutors from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda explored a range of good practices to overcome the challenges of complex terrorism investigations, such as the use of inter-agency and cross-border cooperation to prevent and counter terrorism through the judicial process. Experts from CTED, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the African Prosecutors’ Association, the French judiciary, the Institute for Security Studies and the Global Center also participated.

The workshop was hosted by the Government of Kenya and implemented with the support of the Governments of Australia and New Zealand. The challenges addressed had been previously identified by participants in the First Regional Workshop for Law Enforcement Officers and Prosecutors in East Africa, held in Kampala in May 2013.

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Security Council - Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) - justice

Regional workshop part of building a modern judiciary in South Asia

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Regional workshop on bringing terrorists to justice held in Kenya

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