Moldovan prosecutors and police officers enhance skills at OSCE-supported workshop on investigating transnational cases of trafficking

Fifteen prosecutors and police officers completed a three-day workshop on investigating transnational cases of trafficking in human beings on 15 November 2018 in Chisinau. The workshop was organized jointly by the OSCE Mission to Moldova, the Moldovan General Prosecutor’s Office and the General Police Inspectorate, with the support of the European Union Judicial Co-operation Unit (Eurojust).

The best practices of setting up and managing joint investigation teams (JITs) were the focus of the hands-on course delivered by the Eurojust experts, who specialize in providing financial, legal and practical support to the operational activities of JITs. A JIT is an effective tool used by states to improve the speed, efficiency and co-ordination of investigating and prosecuting transnational crimes. The setting up of JITs on human trafficking cases is one of activities envisaged under the 2018-2020 Action Plan of the Moldovan Anti-Trafficking Strategy, which was developed with the support of the OSCE Mission.

Under the guidance of the trainers, the participants elaborated a standard inter-state JIT agreement, organized a mock JIT co-ordination meeting and identified strategies to raise funds to support operations of a joint team.

“Participation in this training will help us to establish contacts with, and build trust among the international partners to ensure the speedy exchange of information and intelligence as well as the collection of evidence to facilitate the detection and investigation of cases of trafficking,” said Sergiu Russu, the chief of the Section to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings at the General Prosecutor’s Office.

This workshop is part of capacity-building efforts on combating trafficking in human beings undertaken by the OSCE Mission’s human rights programme. The Mission’s work in the field of human rights is in line with the priorities of the Human Rights sub-Working Group, reconvened by Moldova and Transdniestria this year.