War crimes

May 16-17 2019, Academy of Justice within its Continuous Training Program conducted training on War Crimes.

Purpose of this training was to extend the participants knowledge through discussions and presentation of best practices, on how to draft and represent in courts the crimes according to the international criminal law on to armed conflicts, and countries involved in war, how to investigate, witness handling, etc. From the perspective of judges and prosecutors.

International trainers initially presented crimes as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civil population, with the purpose of entire or partial destruction of a national group, ethnic or religious, as stipulated in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and additional Protocols.

First session elaborated on main forms of responsibility, incitement, perpetration, co-perpetration, joint criminal actions (VPK), "systematic forms, organized system of maltreatment, commanding responsibility, superior-subordinate relation, as well as supervisor responsibilities for their subordinates in commission of criminal acts during the armed conflict.  

Second session elaborated on investigation, collection of evidence and detention, requests for legal aid – including cooperation with Mechanisms of International Criminal Tribunals, protection of vulnerable sources and witnesses, examination of witnesses, of suspects, and information management including handling, processing and storing of testimonies, testimony analysis and the burden of proof, circumstantial cases, remedies for diminishing the risk of intimidating the witness (including legal novelties proposed in the Criminal Code).

This training used combined method of lecturing and interactive discussion, elaborating different cases from the judicial practice.

Beneficiaries of this training were judges, prosecutors and professional associates from the Serious Crimes Department of Courts and Prosecution offices.