On 20 May 2021, the UNODC Global Programme on Strengthening Capacities of Member States to Combat and Prevent Transnational Organized and Serious Crime conducted the side event “Towards a Global Network of Regional Judicial Cooperation Networks” on the margins of the 30th Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. The meeting stems from a project introduced in the 12th UN Crime Congress in Salvador in 2010, which has further been taken up during the 14th UN Crime Congress. The event brought together representatives of different judicial cooperation networks and contact points that gathered to explore avenues to establish a global mechanism of secretariats and presidencies of these networks.
The panel discussion opened with the statement of Mr. Rustam Giyasov, Head of the International Legal Department in the Prosecutor General Office of Uzbekistan who stressed the usefulness of judicial cooperation networks and their role in building mutual trust between criminal justice practitioners both at the regional and inter-regional level. For instance, Mr. Giyasov stated that the Judicial Cooperation Network for Central Asia and Southern Caucasus (CASC) to which Uzbekistan belongs has been instrumental in establishing direct contact and building trust with counterparts from several Southeast Asian countries.
A former contact point to the West African Network of Central Authorities and Prosecutors (WACAP), Mr. Akutah Pius Ukeyima LLM, highlighted the benefit from belonging to the WACAP network by sharing a recent case of successful extradition between Nigeria and Togo. The Training of Trainers Programme (ToT) aimed at enhancing the capacities of justice practitioners to effectively process mutual legal assistance requests was provided as an illustrative example, as well.
Mr. Jumpon Phansumrit, Director of the Office of the Attorney General of Thailand introduced the South East Asia Justice Network (SEAJust) noting that this serves as an informal platform for judicial cooperation, which supplements the formal application of the ASEAN Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. Mr. Phansumrit underlined the importance of learning from the extensive experience and good practices of other networks, particularly from the European Judicial Network.
The inefficiency of formal MLA procedures could be improved through enhanced mutual trust and communication. This view was shared by Ms. Ana Gallego Torres, Director-General of Legal Cooperation of the Ministry of Justice of Spain. In her conclusion, she noted the importance to preserve the autonomy, features, and individuality of each network but also benefiting from their synergies and regular exchanges.
Mr. Ola Löfgren, Secretary to the European Judicial Network (EJN), supported the initiative aimed to establish a global mechanism connecting existing judicial cooperation networks and put forward several recommendations. Mr. Löfgren advanced that UNODC could take the role of coordinator or secretariat carrying out the organization of annual meetings and overseeing the funding to ensure the continuity of the project. The adoption of a joint declaration was suggested as a possible further step towards the establishment of a permanent forum of judicial cooperation networks.
The representative of the Ibero-American Network for International Legal Cooperation (IberRed), Ms. Tatiana Salem, noted that the organization of annual meetings of the secretariats and presidencies of all the networks may serve as an opportunity to generate ties, build mutual trust and promote the exchange of knowledge and good practices in mutual legal assistance. Networks with a broader experience such as IberRed and EJN could be beneficial to newly established networks and could provide essential resources, mentorship, and technical assistance. In her conclusion, Ms. Salem highlighted the need to find a model to guarantee the commitment of the networks so that all of them can grow individually and at the same time they can enhance their effectiveness by working in unison.
The meeting closed with the intervention of Ms. Anita Van Der Kar, representative of the Council of Europe, who thanked UNODC for promoting the initiative to interlink existing networks that facilitate judicial cooperation in criminal matters between states.