The Criminal Justice Reform Project, jointly funded by the United States and the United Kingdom governments, hosted a training workshop that will help law enforcement in the regioninvestigate and prosecute corruption cases related to misconduct in public office. The workshop, which took place on 3-4 April 2023 in Barbados, brought together over twenty-five senior investigators and prosecutors, including Directors of Public Prosecution from countries throughout the region, including Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.
The training focused on investigating and prosecuting corruption cases relating to officials in public office. Sessions included aninteractive forum on tools that can be used in the fight against corruption, including developing a cooperative relationship between prosecutor and investigator, the challenges of collecting evidence, the organization and presentation of complex cases in court, and combating corruption through asset recovery. The training was facilitated by UK experts Alex Ferguson and Andrew Tennant and the Head of Legal of the Major Crimes and Anti-Corruption Agency in Jamaica, Nigel Parke.
Attorney General Dale Marshall’s opened the workshop telling the group that investigating and prosecuting corruption in themodern world is extraordinarily difficult, especially concerning misconduct in public office. He added that having forums like the workshop is especially important as it will equip its participants to better deal with difficult issues.
Chargé d Affairs at the British High Commission Charley Williams pointed out that combatting corruption effectively through strong investigations and prosecutions is essential to restoring the trust of citizens in their governments and democracies. She encouraged the participants to apply the new skills and procedures learnt at the workshop in the fight against these abhorrent practices.
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