In September 2020, the IIJ and the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime’s Terrorism Prevention Branch (UNODC/TPB), convened an event in the margins of the 2020 OSCE-wide Counter Terrorism Conference on Effective Partnerships against Terrorism and Violent Extremism and Radicalization that Lead to Terrorism.
The side event – Partnerships in Strengthening the Use of Technology in Criminal Justice Responses to Terrorism During and in the Aftermath of Pandemics and Disasters – gathered a select group of national and international experts, in addition to 56 representatives of national authorities and international organisations. The participants discussed and shared good practices, challenges and lessons learned regarding the use of technology for accessing criminal proceedings in terrorism cases remotely to enable criminal justice institutions to continue to work during the pandemic in a safe environment. Topics included the legal and technical requirements needed to adopt such techniques in an efficient manner, while ensuring the rights of defendants to a fair trial.
The event was the second successful partnership between UNODC and IIJ on this important topic, and followed an Online Expert Group Meeting convened on 7 – 9 July 2020.
This exciting and timely project will produce an IIJ – UNODC/TPB good practices document to be followed by a series of regional pilot programmes for criminal justice practitioners.
For more information on this Side Event, please contact Programme Manager Miriam Shafik.