It’s an age old problem – have a policy but it isn’t used. The 2016 Ghana Code for Prosecutors sets out the evidence on which a decision is taken to prosecute must be reliable, relevant, admissible and available (‘Evidence Test’) and in the public interest ( ‘Public Interest Test’). Application of the Evidence and…

For the last three days I have co-chaired a working group of Romanian, German, Belgian and Italian Prosecutors as part of a project to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Romanian DIICOT (Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism). The focus has been judicial cooperation in the EU and the development of a practical Handbook…

I was honoured to chair an EU funded Expert Working Group (EWG) to enhance extradition in the Greater Horn of Africa. The EWG, hosted in the stunning surrounds of the International Peace Support Training Centre, discussed the impact of procedural errors, how to manage urgent requests and sustainable reform to meet these and other challenges…

The Second EuroMed Conference was an opportunity to present and receive comments on the completed Legal and Gap Analyses on Cybercrime, Terrorist Financing and Special Investigation Techniques for the Southern Partner Countries (SPC) – Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia. With each SPC, the European Commission, UNODC, IAP, UN-CTED, Eurojust and EJN…

I was honoured to present a background paper for the Commonwealth Secretariat at the First Meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Central Authorities and the Commonwealth Network of Contact Persons – held in London on 15-16 February 2018. The paper outlines recommendations to reduce Mutual Legal Assistance delays – through better use of Information Communication Technology…

Almost all organised crime and counter-terrorism investigations will require electronic evidence – often located in another State. Yet – to date – there is no single resource on how to secure this vital evidence from priority jurisdictions around the world. Over the last two days – UNODC hosted an Expert Group Meeting in Vienna to…

In a conference room in Uganda six months ago, the EU team contemplated the next step to establish the Greater Horn of Africa Mutual Legal Assistance Network. We decided upon an ambitious strategy to have an equivalent of the European Judicial Network – with a Fiches and Contact Points. To be proactive rather than reactive….

Justice is measured on access, transparency, fairness, equality and objectivity – we should also remember participation. Section 132(2)(c) of the Ghana Criminal Procedure Code, 1960 (Act 30) precludes the right to reply for a Police Prosecutor of less than three years call as a lawyer. This means if an accused’s Attorney is 1 years call…

The last EU Mutual Legal Assistance workshop of the year has produced a Fiches for Djibouti on evidence collection and use of Special Investigation Techniques for Requesting States. Over a week, key Djiboutian stakeholders from the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gendarmerie, Investigative Judges and Prosecutors – plus an expert from the French…

Ama waa la muuqdaa, ama waa la maqnaada Either be visible or be absent We flew to Mogadishu International Airport (MIA) three weeks after Somalia suffered its worst terrorist attack on 14 October when a large truck bomb exploded in central Mogadishu killing at least 358 people. Somalia was once again back in the global…