During April 12, 2024, The Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice (PÎCCJ) organized, as a project promoter, the final conference of the “Fighting Criminality and Corruption” project, an event attended by the representatives of the Program Operator – the Ministry of Justice, the Superior Council of the Magistracy, the project partners – DNA, DIICOT, the International Anticorruption Academy (IACA), as well as prosecutors from several prosecution units in the Public Ministry.
As part of the activities implemented in this project, IACA has carried out an exhaustive assessment of the general resources used by the Public Ministry when carrying out financial investigations. In this sense, an analysis report was developed, which covered the period 2018-2022, as well as a professional training curriculum in the field of financial investigations, both for basic and advanced levels.
As regards the professional training component for prosecutors, specialists, judicial police officers and clerks, the following activities were completed:
- A number of 15 specialists in computer searches and information analysis benefited from professional training at the University College of Dublin – School of Computer Science.
- During 2019, a number of 45 criminal prosecutors from the prosecution units attached to the courts attended a workshop dedicated to the investigation of violent crimes.
- During 2020, at the PÎCCJ level there were organized 5 workshops in the field of combating crimes against the environment and 5 workshops in the field of combating tax evasion and money laundering. 291 prosecutors and specialists attended those online workshops.
- During 2022 – beginning of 2023, approximately 175 prosecutors and specialists from three prosecution structures attended workshops in the field of investigating cryptocurrency transactions.
- Also, 28 specialists from the PÎCCJ, the prosecutor’s offices attached to the appeal courts, the National Anticorruption Directorate and the Organized Crime Investigation Directorate obtained the Cellebrite Certified Operator and Cellebrite Certified Physical Analyst qualifications.
- 151 prosecutors, specialists, judicial police officers and clerks from DIICOT, both from the Central Structure and from the territorial structures, attended 7 online workshops, in the field of communication and special hearing techniques.
- 25 prosecutors, police officers and specialists from DIICOT attended courses on combating illegal migration and terrorism.
- 164 prosecutors, judicial police officers, specialists and clerks from DNA attended professional training courses in the field of communication.
- During March – April 2024, a number of 20 prosecutors, specialists and judicial police officers with duties in combating organized crime attended 4 specialized professional training sessions focused on the use of an application for investigating cryptocurrency transactions.
With reference to the component aimed at endowing the prosecutor office units with modern technical equipment, during the entire project, local and central prosecutor office units from all the three involved structures were equipped with modern technical equipment. Among these equipment we mention:
- a fully equipped forensic autolaboratory, the only one of its kind owned by the Public Ministry, purchased during 2020;
- a series of software solutions and technical equipment, the use of which will contribute to the conduct of criminal investigations in optimal conditions.
Background information:
The financing contract of the “Fighting Criminality and Corruption” project was signed on 27.11.2018, being the first financing contract signed within the “Justice” Program of the current Norwegian Financial Mechanism.
The project is carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice in partnership with the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA), the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) and the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) ).
The general objective of the project is to strengthen the capacity of the Public Ministry to combat crime and corruption, contributing, in this sense, to the consolidation of the rule of law and the judicial system as a whole. The project had two components: one for professional training for prosecutors, judicial police officers and specialists, and the other for the purchase of equipment for prosecution units, the latter contributing to the efficient performance of criminal investigation activities.
Project financed by the Kingdom of Norway through Norwegian Grants. The value of the grant awarded to the project is 4,250,000 euros. The objective of the project is to strengthen the capacity of the Public Ministry in terms of combating crime and corruption.