Skopje OSCE Mission sponsors prosecutors' seminar on mediation in criminal procedures
(OSCE)A coalition of 18 domestic NGOs, supported by the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje, have created a network for trial monitoring to strengthen the judiciary, 17 September 2003. (OSCE) Photo details
SKOPJE, 23 October 2003 - A three-day seminar on mediation in criminal procedures started today in Ohrid, as part of the support the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje gives the Public Prosecutors' Association to streamline criminal procedures.
More than 30 public prosecutors and 10 judges will discuss current legislation in the country, the practice of the public prosecutors offices as well as experiences of other countries.
Local and international experts from the USA, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia will participate in the debates and concrete recommendations for new legislation will be issued at the end of the seminar.
"We support the Public Prosecutor's Association initiative," said Victor Ullom, the Head of the Rule of Law Unit at the OSCE Mission. "Mediation is a valid option for resolving the problem of the duration of the criminal procedure and consequently the backlog of unresolved cases in the courts.
"It also facilitates the participation of victims in the criminal process and is therefore an important step towards 'Restorative Justice,' a topic whose importance was reaffirmed by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and also by the 2002 UN Basic Principles on the Use of Restorative Justice Programs in Criminal Matters."
The General Federal Public Prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zdravko Knezevic, the District County Prosecutor of Sofia, Ivan Petrov and the Resident Legal Advisor at the US Embassy in Skopje, Barbara Carlin will address the seminar. National experts participating in the event include Dragan Tumanovski, Justice at the Supreme Court, and Aleksandar Prcevski, the Republic Public Prosecutor.
More than 30 public prosecutors and 10 judges will discuss current legislation in the country, the practice of the public prosecutors offices as well as experiences of other countries.
Local and international experts from the USA, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia will participate in the debates and concrete recommendations for new legislation will be issued at the end of the seminar.
"We support the Public Prosecutor's Association initiative," said Victor Ullom, the Head of the Rule of Law Unit at the OSCE Mission. "Mediation is a valid option for resolving the problem of the duration of the criminal procedure and consequently the backlog of unresolved cases in the courts.
"It also facilitates the participation of victims in the criminal process and is therefore an important step towards 'Restorative Justice,' a topic whose importance was reaffirmed by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and also by the 2002 UN Basic Principles on the Use of Restorative Justice Programs in Criminal Matters."
The General Federal Public Prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zdravko Knezevic, the District County Prosecutor of Sofia, Ivan Petrov and the Resident Legal Advisor at the US Embassy in Skopje, Barbara Carlin will address the seminar. National experts participating in the event include Dragan Tumanovski, Justice at the Supreme Court, and Aleksandar Prcevski, the Republic Public Prosecutor.