On 13-15 November 2024, a training on international judicial cooperation in criminal matters (ICCM) took place in Bursa, Türkiye for 52 judges and public prosecutors from Bursa and its surrounding provinces, with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Justice Directorate General for Foreign Relations and European Union Affairs (DGFREU).

The participants learnt about the Council of Europe and other international conventions, treaties and bilateral agreements related to the ICCM as well as the updated regulatory framework in Türkiye for mutual legal assistance and extradition cases. They became more aware of the cooperation process with both EU and non-EU countries and the challenges and reasons for the refusal of MLA and extradition requests. Moreover, the Turkish judges and prosecutors actively engaged in discussion sessions by sharing their experiences and the challenges they faced. The majority of the participants expressed that their knowledge of mutual legal assistance and extradition has increased as a result of the training.

The training was the final session of a series of 28 training activities implemented since 2023 as part of the project. As a result of these training sessions, a total of 852 judges and prosecutors have been trained in Türkiye by the ICCM project.

The project "Improving International Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters in Türkiye" is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe”.