Prosecutor's Training Center of Ukraine held a strategic session for prosecutors working in regional prosecutor's offices

On 29-30 May, Prosecutor's Training Center of Ukraine held a strategic session dedicated to professional development in the field of international legal cooperation for prosecutors working in regional prosecutor's offices.

The event was organised by EU Project Pravo-Justice in close cooperation with the Council of Europe Project ‘Fostering Human Rights in the Criminal Justice System of Ukraine’ and the Department of International Cooperation of the Office of the Prosecutor General.

During the two-day training, the heads of regional prosecutor's offices, their deputies, and prosecutors from regional specialised offices worked on topical legal challenges in the field of international legal cooperation. They had an opportunity to improve their skills in drawing up mutual legal assistance and extradition requests, in particular in international crimes cases.

Moreover, specific sessions were devoted to cooperating with Interpol, the International Criminal Court and Eurojust, as well as to the ECtHR extradition case law.

According to Andrii Kostin, Prosecutor General, prosecutors must use all the tools and frameworks available to strengthen international cooperation in criminal cases to hold those responsible for crimes committed in Ukraine accountable.

‘The dynamics of recent years shows that Ukraine has intensified its cooperation with European legal institutions. There are more and more international legal assistance and extradition requests, Ukrainian prosecutors are taking a more active part in joint investigative teams, etc.", he said.

In her turn, Tinna Goletiani, Fight against International Crimes Sub-Component Lead of EU Project Pravo-Justice, noted that the Project will further actively cooperate with the Office of the Prosecutor General to ensure that Ukrainian prosecutors have access to best international and European practices.

"As crime becomes increasingly transnational, international legal cooperation in criminal cases is critical to effective efforts to hold perpetrators accountable," she said.