Forty representatives of the Ministry of Justice of Türkiye, judges and prosecutors in charge of handling and managing requests for international cooperation in criminal matters participated in two consecutive Trainings of Trainers (ToT) on 19-21 October and 24-26 October 2022 in Ankara. The trainings were held within the European Union and Council of Europe Joint Project of ‘Improving International Cooperation in Criminal Matters in Turkey’.
Organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and the Justice Academy of Türkiye, the trainings aimed at establishing a pool of competent trainers who can provide the subject-matter trainings to their peers. The ToT participants with a background in judicial cooperation, mutual legal assistance (MLA) and extradition from Ankara and different regions of Türkiye were instructed by a team of Council of Europe’s national and international experts.
Overall, the trainings focused on the most common international co-operation measures: mutual legal assistance and extradition. Important issues such as concurrent jurisdiction cases and principles of criminal jurisdiction, measures of international co-operation and general principles, international judicial notification in criminal matters, mutual legal assistance, grounds for refusal, international good practices and the relevant Turkish law and practice, practical exercises and challenges in MLA were addressed. Additionally, legal procedures on extradition, steps in the extradition process, grounds for refusal and practical exercises were another focus point of the trainings. The trainings covered training methodologies to support the future trainers to expand their skills and raise their awareness of the processes of teaching and learning.
The participants actively contributed to the trainings by sharing expertise, their practical experiences and challenges faced. Majority of the participants reported that their knowledge of international judicial cooperation, the process regarding the mutual legal assistance and extradition was increased as a result of the trainings.
The project ‘Improving International Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters in Turkey’ is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.