The IAP’s 6th Annual Conference was held at the Sheraton on the Park Hotel in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia from 2 to 7 September 2001. The attendance was the largest yet with over 404 participants from 69 countries. IAP President, Nicholas Cowdery, Q.C., and his colleagues hosted an event worthy of the splendours of their beautiful city.

The Conference was opened in the magnificent Sydney Town Hall by the Chief Justice of Australia, the Honourable Murray Gleeson, and those present were also addressed by the Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney, Councillor Lucy Turnbull. Damian Bugg, Q.C. (Australia) was acknowledged as Conference President and Akio Harada (Japan), Ho Chio Meng (Macao, China), Kevin Meenan (U.S.A.), Bulelani Ngcuka (South Africa) and Birgitte Vestberg (Denmark) as Conference Vice-Presidents.

The main theme of the Conference was The Role of the Prosecutor in the New Millennium and this provided an opportunity to explore a range of issues and challenges which will face prosecutors in the future. Keynote addresses were delivered by Robert Debus, Attorney General of New South Wales, Professor Hans-Jürgen Bartsch of the Council of Europe and The Lord Goldsmith, Q.C., Attorney General of the United Kingdom.

Norman McFadyen (Scotland) gave participants an insight into the complexities of staging a prosecution as large as the Lockerbie trial on foreign soil. Issues of consumer credit fraud and corruption were addressed by John Miller (VISA Risk Management, Singapore) and Peter Rooke (Transparency International Australia). Participants took part in a choice of workshops - disclosure, the death penalty, diversion and DNA. Feedback was presented to the plenary session by Raj Joshi (England and Wales), Billy Downer (South Africa), Jonathan Hak (Canada) and Ana Seeto (Australia).

Tuesday provided a morning of exposure to science and technology. Paul Rutledge and Sgt Troy O’Malley (Australia) spoke on technological aids to prosecution and Rob Parrish (U.S.A.) on shaken baby syndrome. Rod McKemmish (KPMG Forensic Accounting, Australia) introduced the conference to the intricacies of Cybercrime and Joel Schwarz, who had already induced 50 participants to attend an introductory talk at 8.15am, addressed the problems of internet investigations.

Tuesday afternoon was given over to a view of the International Criminal Court, presented by eight prosecutors and former prosecutors from the International Tribunal for Crimes in the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and introduced by the Deputy Prosecutor at ICTY, Graham Blewitt.

Wednesday gave participants the opportunity to explore Sydney and its environs more widely but a good number were willing to devote their time to attending additional workshops. The first, a training package based on the Model Guidelines for the Effective Prosecution of Crimes against Children (IAP Best Practice Series No 2), was presented by Frances Gordon, Executive Director of the International Center for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy (ICCLR), Vancouver, and Wendy VanTongeren Harvey, a Canadian prosecutor, together with IAP General Counsel, Barry Hancock. The second, supported by AUSAID provided a forum for prosecutors from the Pacific islands to meet together to discuss issues of mutual interest.

On Thursday morning the conference considered assistance for prosecutors. Barry Hancock updated participants on the forthcoming work of the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) - see Newsletter 12 - and Peter Short described the work of Australian Legal Resources International. Justice Shameem (Fiji) and Richard Buteera (Uganda) spoke on the prosecutor in developing countries and resourcing the prosecutor. Kristina Tollbäck and Ola Sjöstrand (Sweden) gave an insight on the importance of internal training and the need and opportunities for training in developing and emerging jurisdictions.

These speakers were joined by Helen Brady (ICTY), Francois Falletti (France), Andre Vandoren (Belgium), the President and the Secretary-General on a question and answer panel chaired by IAP Vice-President, Daniel Bellemare (Canada) who focused the discussion on the future direction of the IAP in the light of its newly acquired special consultative status with ECOSOC. Many of Daniel’s conclusions are to be found in his article IAP - a One stop shop for prosecutors. The day concluded with the General Meeting, the minutes of which are to be found on page 5.

Picture right: Opening Ceremony of the 6th Annual Conference, Sydney, 2001

On Friday the conference divided into regions for the Regional Fora organised by Grenville Cross, Q.C., S.C., (Hong Kong, China), Henning Fode (Denmark), Michael Horowitz (U.S.A.) and Bulelani Ngcuka (South Africa). Feedback was given by John Tester (U.K.), Arthur Luk (Hong Kong, China), Michael Horowitz and Lovisa Indongo (Namibia).

The afternoon looked forward to the 2002 conference, which will concentrate on trafficking in money, drugs and humans, with presentations from Neil Jensen and Gary Crooke, Q.C. (Australia), Kingsley Hyland (England and Wales) and Dien Korvinus (The Netherlands).

The President closed the conference by thanking all who had been involved in making it a success and David Calvert-Smith, Q.C. (England and Wales) invited members to attend the 7th IAP Annual Conference in London next year (8 - 12 September 2002).

Message from the President

Wow - what a conference!

That was how I wanted to begin this message; then in the next week America was attacked. Like everyone else, I was stunned, disbelieving and helpless.

We send our condolences and sympathy to all who have suffered loss as a result of the attacks in New York and Washington. We also record our resolve, as an organisation, to continue the fight against crime - including crime on the scale of that committed against the individuals who were targeted by the terrorists in these cowardly and inhuman attacks. By cooperation amongst our members we can assist in dealing even with problems of this magnitude.

Because in my view, war is the wrong analogy - and a warlike response, while understandable in the circumstances (and while it may incidentally produce beneficially changes in some other countries), may not be the most appropriate for many reasons. Fear and ignorance, alongside a natural human desire for revenge, threaten to give the terrorists a victory if we retaliate in kind against their outrageous conduct.

Crimes have been committed in this case on a huge scale and the response should be the one we all make against the very worst of criminals. In this case there were crimes against humanity. [The International Criminal Court, hitherto not supported by America, is the place in which criminals of this kind should receive justice, in accordance with the rule of law. Until such a body exists, in my view a more appropriate response to the recent outrage would have been to request the UN Security Council to create ad hoc jurisdiction to deal with this offending and for the civilised nations to have cooperated in identifying the perpetrators and bringing the surviving ones to justice.]
[Anyone accused of such crimes should be brought before the appropriate courts in the United States or, should the UN Security Council be prepared to create it, before an ad hoc tribunal established to deal with this offending. It would then be for the civilised nations to co-operate in identifying the perpetrators and bringing the survivors to justice.]

___________________________

Well, the conference: what a week it was.

I think it is fair to say that it was an extremely successful conference from all points of view. Yes, there was the problem of translation for some, but that is being sensibly addressed. Yes, some people were unhappy with a tour program. And sometimes there was a wait to get a drink - and so on. There will always be some matters of detail that cause problems for a few, no matter how hard we work to avoid them. But overall, I trust that those who attended (a total of about 400 from 70 countries plus about 45 accompanying persons) had a very enjoyable and productive time. I certainly hope that you also have good memories of Sydney and of Australia.

Reports on aspects of the conference appear elsewhere in this Newsletter and we have ideas already for the London conference next year. Our ongoing work programs have benefited from the many discussions held in Sydney during the week and you will see that reflected in our achievements in the coming months. The completed Conference Questionnaires have also given us matters to consider.

I thank all who contributed so much to the success of the 2001 conference and I look forward to working with you all in the coming year. Please take every opportunity that presents itself to expand our membership and extend and improve the service that the IAP can provide to the world. We will grow and prosper only with the active support of our members - it is simply not possible for a few busy individuals to shoulder the entire burden.

And remember: communication is a two-way thing. We give you much information, but we need you to communicate with us as well.

Nicholas Cowdery, Q.C.
President

IAP Awards

The Medal of Honour was not awarded this year.

The Special Achievement Award was presented on the first morning of the Conference to :

Anton R. Ackermann, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions for the Transvaal region, South Africa, for his special dedication in the pursuit of his professional responsibilities and the discharge of same in the face of hardship and adversity in circumstances which deserve special recognition.

and to:

the prosecution team in the Lockerbie case and The Crown Office of Scotland for their flexible working in order to achieve something unprecedented in legal history: the investigation and prosecution in the Lockerbie Trial

The Certificate of Merit was presented to Bulelani Ngcuka, Director Public Prosecutions of South Africa, for hosting the 2000 Annual Conference

Special “Thank you - Awards” were given to the Boardmembers of the Foundation Treasury IAP and Mr Sybren Hoekstra, chartered accountant with Ernst & Young, accountants for their assistance in dealing with the Association’s financial affairs and its accounts.

Anton Ackermann’s acceptance speech

In accepting his Special Achievement Award, Anton Ackermann said :

“It is a great privilege to be honoured by your fellow prosecutors. It is an even greater privilege to be honoured by fellow prosecutors on the international level.

Judge James, a distinguished Judge President of the Natal Bench, once called me to his chambers and told me: "Anton, if you want to be difficult, you need to be right".

If one is in pursuit of justice and the rule of law, one is always right. And the victims of crime and the community demand of one to be difficult in order to restore the balance which has been upset by the accused.

The prosecutor's profession is a noble one.

I. We might not always be portrayed as the good guys in films or TV shows.
II. Our wives and children might not have all the overseas holidays that the families of our defence counterparts enjoy.
III. And we might not have the same social standing in the community as defence advocates.

But, silently and behind the scenes, we are respected and admired by the community, which depends on us to see that justice is done. The reward for prosecuting is the sense of fulfilment and the certainty that one has made a difference for the good.

Life has been good to me. I was at the right place, at the right time, for the right case and I have enjoyed the good fortune of a wife and children who have tolerated the demands on my time which are unavoidable for any prosecutor.

But to echo the words of French playwright Alain Le Sage: 'Justice is such a fine thing, that we cannot pay too dearly for it".

I thank the International Association of Prosecutors for honouring me in this way.”

Future awards

It is important that we recognise the important work of prosecutors, prosecution services and associations of prosecutors. In order to do this the IAP has three awards - the Medal of Honour (presented to Justice Louise Arbour in 1999 and Nelson Mandela in 2000), the Special Achievement Award (presented for the first time this year - see above) and the Certificate of Merit, which is awarded regularly to members for services to the IAP.

We invite you to make nominations for all three categories of award. If you have a nomination to make, please contact the Secretary-General by the end of 2001.

Translation at IAP conferences

During the conference question and answer session and also at the General Meeting the issue of simultaneous translation between Spanish and English was raised and attracted a good deal of sympathy. It is important that this matter is aired and the association’s position clarified.

Those who know the IAP know that our working language is English. There are compelling financial and human resource reasons for this - practical, not ideological, constraints. We want to be as inclusive as possible - to be truly international. Language can be a barrier and we want to remove it wherever we can. In our communications we make the position absolutely clear. In our Sydney conference information we stated that translation would be provided only in French and Chinese. We had written to Spanish-speaking organisational members explaining the difficulties and requesting assistance in providing Spanish translation. There was no reply.

The French Government and agencies sponsored French translation. The Chinese brought their own interpreters, as did the Mongolians. The Ukrainians paid for locally-based interpreters.

In those circumstances it was unfortunate that one participant berated personally the President for not providing Spanish translation. As the President told the General Meeting, this was not the IAP’s fault. Anyone attending the conference at all, must have received information about it. That information was specific about the languages to be provided. Next year, with the assistance of all concerned (including our English hosts) we trust that we can avoid such difficulties. In the longer term, we already have a French website linked to the IAP and we will welcome such developments in other languages. Our Standards and other documents have already been translated into many languages and we rely on you, the members, to arrange for such things to happen.

The General Meeting

1. The President opened the meeting. He extended a special welcome to honorary members Eamonn Barnes and Minoru Shikita.

2. The rules of procedure were adopted.

3. The minutes of the previous General Meeting, held on 7 September 2000 in Cape Town, South Africa, were agreed.

4. There were no matters arising.

5. Daniel Bellemare, Q.C. (Canada) and Geraldo Brindeiro (Brazil) were re-elected and Retha Meintjes (South Africa) and Ye Feng (China) were elected as Vice-Presidents of the Association.

6. Francois Falletti (France) and Fikret Mamedov (Azerbaijan) were reappointed and Brigitte Bierlein (Austria), Michael Chertoff (U.S.A.) and Egbert Myjer (The Netherlands) were appointed as members of the Executive Committee. Richard Buteera (Uganda) was co-opted to membership of the Executive Committee to fill the vacancy which arose when Retha Meintjes was elected as Vice-President. The new protocol for nominations by the Executive Committee was summarised by the President. It would be posted on the website.

7. The Annual Report was received by the Meeting.

8. The Secretary-General presented the financial statement and the budget for 2002. The President read the sponsorship protocol which had been adopted by the Executive Committee. Its adoption was proposed by John Kaye (U.S.A.) and seconded by Billy Downer (South Africa). However, as it was to be posted on the website, discussion was adjourned at the request of Roelof Jan Manschot (The Netherlands). It was agreed that in the interim the IAP and the hosts of the conference in 2002 could act in the spirit of the protocol.

9. Work program of the Association

9(a) The website - hyperlinks were needed to join prosecution services’ websites to the IAP website and information was needed to post onto it.

9(b) Translation - an issue had arisen about Spanish translation which had been anticipated by some participants. The President pointed out that this was despite a caveat in the preliminary program, correspondence between the IAP and the countries concerned and a prominent article in the IAP Newsletter, indicating that because of lack of sponsorship, there would be no such facility available. It was the IAP’s wish to make such facilities available but money had to be found to fund each language. The French had done so, the Chinese brought their own interpreters who used the booths and others also used their own interpreters. The General Counsel would work with Spanish-speaking members in an effort to arrange Spanish translation for 2002 and to set up a Spanish website.

9(c) Human Rights Manual - This was being produced under Egbert Myjer’s guidance.

9(d) The President reported that the Internet Investigation Manual was being prepared by a committee under the guidance of Joel Schwarz (who had made two presentations at the Conference). A sample of the manual had been prepared and was available for participants. The sample would also be posted on the IAP website.

9(e) The President also reported that a workshop on the Model Guidleines for the Effective Prosecution of Crimes against Children had been held in parallel with the conference on Wednesday morning. It was well-attended and very productive. The President thanked the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy (ICCLR) in Vancouver for their work and the Commonwealth DPP for making the venue available. The venue was also used that afternoon for a forum of Pacific Island prosecutors which had also been highly successful.

9(f) IAP Awards - members were asked to send in nominations to be decided at the Northern Spring Meeting of the Executive Committee.

9(g) In view of the IAP’s new consultative status with ECOSOC, the IAP would need comments on various U.N. drafts and members were asked to assist with this.

10 IAP Standards - The President urged members to sign commitments to working in accordance with the Standards.

11. Conference resolutions were put to the meeting for consideration. At the end of the conference the majority of those present were content with the resolutions as amended after comments had been considered. However, there were some participants who felt that they were unable to agree to them. The President acknowledged the position of these participants.

12. Future conferences
2002 would be in London.
2003 - A possibility was being explored. Suggestions were sought for themes.
2004 - Again a possibility was being explored which was approaching confirmation.
Regional (mini) conferences
One would be held in The Hague, 20-22 March 2002 and it was hoped to hold one in New Zealand. The President hoped that other regions would want to hold such conferences.

13. Annabelle Bolt (U.K.) explained the background and development of her project on transnational investigations. She looked to members for support.

Bernard Bailor (U.S.A.) explained the remit of the American Bar Association CEELI (Central and East European Law Initiative). Prosecutors from civil law countries were needed to assist. Information would be posted in the Newsletter.

The President thanked the Prosecution Service of Japan for their continuing work on the IAP Directory.

He also thanked the Canadian Government for their considerable financial support to the development of the IAP French language website.

The President placed before the meeting a resolution adopted by the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law at its annual conference in Canberra the previous week. The resolution related to an attack in the media on the independence of a judge in New South Wales who had sentenced a group of offenders in August. Richard Mosley, Q.C. (who had been at the ISRCL conference) described the background to the resolution. After discussion, the meeting reached a consensus that such a resolution should not be passed and the President terminated the debate.

14. The next General Meeting would be held during the 2002 Annual conference in London at a time to be confirmed, possibly on Wednesday 11 September 2002.

U.N. Consultative status

You will have read in recent editions of the Newsletter of the granting of U.N. special consultative status to the IAP. We have now received formal notification of this recognition and there follows the text of the letter from Mrs Hanifa Mezoui, Chief of the NGO Section at ECOSOC, which reached us during our conference in Sydney :

4 September 2001

Mr. Henk Marquart Scholtz
Secretary-General
International Association of Prosecutors

Dear Sir,

It is my great pleasure to inform you that at its 2001 substantive session, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations granted consultative status to the International Association of Prosecutors, following the recommendation made earIier, in May, by the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations.

As you may know, strenuous efforts are now being made throughout the oragnization to engage the full spectrum of non-state actors in the intergovernmental process. As Mr. Kofi Annan, our Secretary-General, said: “Peace and prosperity cannot be achieved without partnership involving governments, international organizations, the business community and civil society. In today’s world we depend on each other". Therefore, I am particularly pleased and honored to welcome your organization in the United Nations arena.

The scope of the UN work has expanded over the years to include various issues of a transnational nature, including in the legal field. Such issues require technical expertise that a professional organization like the IAP can bring to the United Nations. In that respect, your input will be particularly relevant to the work of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, two ECOSOC subsidiary bodies based in Vienna. The elaboration and adoption of a UN Convention on the fight against transnational organized crime last year open the door for various forms of collaboration and joint action that you might wish to discuss during this important meeting.

The consultative status with ECOSOC creates a double relationship between the NGO concerned and the Council. First, the organization can take part at the various sessions of the Council and its subsidiary bodies and make oral and written statements as stipulated in ECOSOC resolution 1996/31. Secondly, relevant inter-governmental bodies can consult the organization on its specific fields of expertise, providing an opportunity to share analyses and recommendations with all actors involved in the decision-making process.

Needless to say that non-governmental organizations are in a key position to help implementing resolutions adopted by the ECOSOC bodies at the national and local level and providing the adequate follow-up to UN meetings. This is all the more important as your organization deals with a number of key issues on the agenda of the United Nations, namely criminal justice, human rights and the rule of law, as well as conflict prevention. Therefore, I trust that the consultative status of the IAP with ECOSOC marks the beginning of a long and fruitful working relationship between our two organizations.

I wish you every success in your meeting in Sydney.

Sincerely Yours,

Hanifa Mezoui
Chief, NGO Section
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
United Nations - New York

We also look forward to fruitful, continuing relations with ECOSOC and the United Nations generally.

IAP Regional (“mini”) Conference

Following the success of the first such event earlier this year, the IAP will be holding a regional conference in The Hague on 20-22 March 2002 for prosecutors from Europe. The conference will focus on “Dealing with Young Defendants” but there will also be presentations on different criminal justice systems in the region.

After the comparative session, there will be sessions on :

- Investigative and court procedures for dealing with young defendants;
- diversion; and
- sentencing.

The presenters will be prosecutors from a variety of legal traditions and the conference will again be held in the excellent facilities in The Hague City Hall. It is open to prosecutors from all European countries with the following limitations :

- They should not be senior managers;
- They should not be involved in policy work; and
- They should not have attended an IAP Annual Conference.

The conference fee will be NLG 200. Participants will also need to pay for their own travel and two nights accommodation. There is a wide choice of this in The Hague.

There are 50 places available. Initially we shall limit attendance to 3 per jurisdiction on a first come first served basis but we shall also create a waiting list. Should you wish to attend, please contact the Secretary-General for full information.

Nominations 2002

At the next General Meeting the President, Nicholas Cowdery, Q.C. (Australia), and the Secretary-General, Henk Marquart Scholtz (The Netherlands) reach the end of their current terms. Both have indicated their wish to seek re-election and the Executive Committee has nominated them in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

The General Counsel is appointed by the Executive Committee for a period of six years. The Committee has re-appointed Barry Hancock as General Counsel with effect from September 2002.

Minoru Shikita (Japan) and Henning Fode reach the end of their current term as Vice-Presidents of the Association. Minoru, our first Vice-President, and Henning have both indicated their wish to seek re-election. The Executive Committee has nominated them in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

David Calvert-Smith, Q.C., Jorge Madrazo Cuellar, Basile Elombat, Carl Joseph and John Kaye will come to the end of their current terms as members of the Executive Committee. Some will be seeking re-appointment and, if nominated by the Executive Committee, details will be posted in the next edition of the Newsletter.

It is important that the Executive Committee reflects the membership of the IAP. Apart from the above nominations, there will be at least five vacancies on the Executive Committee in September 2002. There are still areas of the world, for example the Arab world, which are not represented and we would wish to keep a place at the table for them. However, we would welcome nominations from any part of the globe. Members may refer to their copies of the Constitution for nomination procedures - this can also be found on the website (www.iap.nl.com). Anyone who wishes to seek such a nomination should contact the Secretary-General. The Executive Committee protocol which was adopted in Sydney will be placed on the website.

Executive Committee Meeting, 1 September 2001

Friedrich Matousek (Austria) said farewell to the Executive Committee after six years and thanked colleagues.

Current organisational membership stood at 77 and individual membership at 1127.

The Executive Committee discussed a draft of the Protocol for Nominations by the Executive Committee to the Executive Committee. The text of the final protocol will be placed on the website.

The nominations for office which were to be put to the General Meeting were agreed (see minutes of the General Meeting). Nominations for 2002 were discussed and approved as detailed above (see Nominations 2002).

The Secretary-General reported that the financial situation had improved and the Finnish Government and AUSAID had provided support this year to the Granting Program, again enabling colleagues from developing countries to attend the conference.

Retha Meintjes (South Africa) reported on her attendance at the 2nd DPP Forum in Nigeria and the General Counsel on his attendance at the 2nd Pan-European Meeting of European Prosecutors General and the 21st Annual Conference of the Federal Prosecution Service of Canada. The next regional (“mini”) conference would be held in The Hague on 20-22 March 2002. It was also hoped to hold one for Oceania and the President encouraged members to hold such events in their regions.

The General Counsel reported on the preparations for the 2002 conference in London, including the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre and arrangements for hotels with a range of prices.

There was no firm offer to host the conference in 2003 but discussions subsequently took place during the week of the conference. Korea offered to host the conference in 2004.

The Northern Spring meeting in 2002 would be held in Baku, Azerbaijan Republic.

The IAP had been asked to nominate representatives to regional ECOSOC bodies. It was agreed that the regional Vice-Presidents should act as the IAP’s representatives.

The President informed the meeting of two letters he had received from Brazilian prosecutors with which he proposed to deal under the complaints protocol.

The U.N. Prosecutors’ Guidelines were being revised and it was important for the IAP to have an input. A working group, consisting of the Vice-Presidents and Francois Falletti and chaired by Henning Fode, would look at the IAP’s contribution.
Annual Conference 2002

The 2002 Annual Conference will be held in London on 8-12 September. Work is already underway on the administrative arrangements and also the work programme. Speekers are arranged at the earliest possible date and we are usually unable to meet late requests from members who wish to address the conference. We appreciate that this is often disappointing for those who wish to participate.

Anyone wishing to participate in the conference as a speeker or in any other way should contact the General Counsel by the end of November (hancockiap@aol.com).

IAP - A one stop shop for prosecutors

by Daniel A. Bellemare, Q.C., IAP Vice-President

In July 2001, the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP), as a Non-Governmental Organization, was granted Special Consultative Status to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC). (For additional information on ECOSOC, see: http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/ngo). This is an important milestone in the life of our young Association as it is the first concrete recognition of the IAP by the international community.

By granting this special consultative status, the United Nations now acknowledges that the IAP is a credible interlocutor that can be considered as the Official Voice of Prosecutors on the international scene. As our President, Nicholas R. Cowdery, Q.C. wrote recently:

”In a sense, we have now come of age and the international community has recognized our status and the contribution we are able to make to world affairs.” (IAP Newsletter, No. 13, May 2001, at page 1)

In her letter of September 4, 2001, to the Secretary-General of the IAP, officially informing him of the Association’s new status, Mrs. Hanifa Mezoui, of the United Nations, made the following remarks:

”The scope of the UN work has expanded over the years to include various issues of a transnational nature, including in the legal field. Such issues require technical expertise that a professional organization like the IAP can bring to the United Nations. In that respect, your input will be particularly relevant to the work of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, two ECOSOC subsidiary bodies based in Vienna.” (emphasis added)

This important recognition gives us an opportunity to pause and reflect, as we now must ensure the IAP can live up to the newly created expectations. In other words, how can we ensure that the IAP is able to provide the “technical expertise” required by the United Nations? Some of the consequences of this recent development were discussed during our 6th Annual Conference in Sydney.

To be the voice of prosecutors on the international scene is quite an important responsibility. The IAP must strive to become the voice of all prosecutors, not only of English-speaking prosecutors from the common law system.

It must also be flexible enough to react and keep pace with the rapid development of a living and multifaceted function, a function that, more than ever before, has to be in constant evolution to be both sensitive and to respond effectively to emerging social trends.

The objects of the Association, which are listed in article 2.3 of its Constitution, mirror the richness of the function and the variety of its components. More specifically, paragraph 2.3 (f) states that the Association must “promote the professional interests of prosecutors and […] enhance recognition of their crucial role in achieving criminal justice”.

To effectively discharge its mandate on the international scene, and to articulate in a comprehensive and authoritative way for the United Nations those issues that are relevant to prosecutors, the IAP must become the center of excellence for all prosecution-related issues, a one-stop shop for prosecutors, a window on the prosecution world and its challenges.

How is such a lofty objective achieved? ¾ It is through a determined and concerted resort by the IAP to the numerous capabilities of modern technology. This could begin with a strategic use of the Association’s main website (The English website in The Hague) and of its subsidiary or sub-websites in other languages. The IAP must become a comprehensive center of reference on prosecution issues. The IAP website should eventually be viewed as a primary source of information and of inspiration for prosecutors in the pursuit of the rule of law and the public interest. Just imagine if a simple visit to the IAP Websites could give you immediate access to reference materials such as:

- Speeches on the role of prosecutors and on prosecution-related matters;

- Famous quotes on the prosecution function and the role of prosecutors;

- Annual Reports of Prosecution Services;

- An exhaustive bibliography of books and articles on prosecutors and prosecution-related issues;

- A listing of existing Magazines, Newsletters and other internal publications from prosecution services, with hyperlinks where possible;

- Hyperlinks to the web sites of prosecution services from around the world (starting with the web sites of organizational members of the IAP);

- Hyperlinks to web sites of interest for prosecutors;

- Special events and Conferences of interest to prosecutors; etc.

The development of this reference capability requires an important gathering and collating effort that is only sustainable through the ongoing assistance of members of the Association. Indeed, this is a “two-way process”. Members of the Association have a moral obligation to assist in this major endeavor. Accordingly, they are encouraged to send to the Secretary-General any relevant materials in the categories listed above.

Over time, and through the collaborative efforts of its members in more than 90 countries of the world, the IAP will develop a multilingual network of “technical expertise” in various legal systems that will support its role as the official voice of prosecutors on the international scene. Recommendation No. 10 of the Sydney Conference is yet another component of this holistic approach:

“The IAP should continue to assist and support its members in identifying concrete means to reach out to members from non English speaking countries and various legal systems.”

As former President Nelson Mandela concluded in his acceptance speech of the IAP Medal of Honor in September 2000, in reference to the prosecution function, “ […] above all, claim your victories and promote the interests of your profession. It is a noble one.”

2nd Nigerian DPPs’ Forum
by Retha Meintjes, IAP Vice - President

From a rather cold and wintry South Africa we arrived in Lagos with the temperature well in the thirties. We were welcomed by a friendly Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP)- delegation, who escorted us to the hotel.
Early the next morning we left for Abuja to attend the National Consultative Forum on Legal Practice and Administration of Justice in Nigeria.

The 2nd Directors of Public Prosecutors Forum was a joint forum with the Nigerian Bar Association, the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, the Legal Resources Consortium and, of course, LEDAP and was stylishly held at the Sheraton Hotel, where we met with our host, Mr Chenonye Obiagwu, the National Co-ordinator of LEDAP. The main theme of the Forum was “The Role of theLegal Profession in Enhancing Access to Justice”.

Many excellent papers were delivered..The keynote speaker was Dr Rueben Abati,of Guardian Newspapers, who gave a very honest account on how the ordinary Nigerian perceives the Nigerian Justice System. Yusuf O. Ali Esq, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, defined access to justice as not only meaning “the procedure mechanism for the resolution of dispute alone but includes other variables like the physical condition , of the places where justice is dispensed, the quality of the human and material resources availabletherat, the quality of justice, the time it takes to deliver justice, the moral quality of the dispenser of justice, theobservance of the generalprinciples of rule of law, the affordability of the cost of seeking justice in terms of time and money, the quality of legal advisers that assist disputants, the incorruptability and impartiality of operators of the system” .

The Hon Ibrahim Zailani, Chairman of Representatives Committee on Justice, Human Rights and Legal Matters aptly remarked that “few will deny that we are at a period when the legal profession faces increasing scrutiny from the wider society and more than ever before there is a need for the legal profession to be seen to be championing the cause of our people not only in theory but in practice.”

Lively and open discussions followed the main sessions. In the working sessions, the DPP`s were able to address problems and challenges, including integrating human rights norms in the administration of criminal justice. Of interest was the fact that Nigeria has 36 States, each of which has a DPP and an Attorney General. They also have Federal Attorney`s General and Federal Courts and their lower courts are presided over by lay people with the police acting as prosecutors. I addressed this Forum as representative of the IAP on International and Comparative Standards for Good Prosecutorial Practice: the International Association of Prosecutors` Standards of Professional Responsibility and Statement of the Essential Rights and Duties of Prosecutors.

The DPP`s expressed their interest in the IAP assisting with training of prosecutors in improved techniques and tactics in prosecution, with the emphasis, given the discussion topic, on integrating human rights norms into prosecutorial practice. Due to Mr Obiagwu`s unfailing enthusiasm for and support of the IAP as an organisation, having also been instrumental in publishing “The Prosecutor”, a quarterly newsletter and in which an extensive article on the IAP appears in its first edition, many enquiries were made by the DPP`s into becoming members of the IAP and attending the IAP`s 6th Annual Conference.


We were treated to traditional Nigerial food and, back in Lagos, were taken for shopping in typical Nigerian stores, where bargaining is the rule and where we were ably assisted by Ms Chinyere Agina. My thanks to Chinonye Obiagwu and his colleagues, the staff from LEDAP and especially Chinyere Agina, for the absence of mosquitos (only three were noted during our stay), their very warm welcome and generous hospitality.

Conference resolutions

Whereas the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) is committed to promoting the effective, fair, impartial and efficient prosecution of criminal offences; promoting high standards and principles in the administration of criminal justice in support of the rule of law; and to promoting and enhancing those standards and principles which are generally recognised internationally as necessary for the proper and independent prosecution of offences;
Recognising the need to assist prosecutors internationally in the fight against organised or other serious crime, and for that purpose :
· to promote international co-operation in gathering and providing evidence; in tracking, seizing and forfeiting the proceeds of serious crime; and in the prosecution of fugitive criminals;
· to promote speed and efficiency in such international co-operation;

Reinforcing its commitment to promoting measures for the elimination of corruption in public administration; and

Emphasising the necessity of promoting the professional interests of prosecutors and to enhance the recognition of their crucial role in achieving criminal justice;

While promoting good relations between individual prosecutors and prosecution agencies; facilitating the exchange and dissemination among them of information, expertise and experience; and encouraging the use of information technology;

The IAP hereby resolves that :
1. it will work in support of international tribunals and courts - the ad hoc tribunals, the International Criminal Court and other courts with exceptional jurisdiction established with the consent of the international community;
2. it will continue efforts to combat consumer credit fraud;
3. in conjunction with Transparency International and other organisations it will continue to lobby governments to act against all forms of corruption, both internal and external;
4. it will encourage prosecutors to develop an effective working awareness of modern technology - forensic science, the Internet and ICT;
5. it will use its networks to ensure that governments provide proper resources for prosecutors which include adequate remuneration and effective training;
6. it will continue, in conjunction with ICCLR, ILAC and the United Nations, to develop training programs which will be available to IAP members world-wide;
7. it will promote the use of mini conferences in all regions of the world to develop in line prosecutors an awareness of an international dimension;
8. it will work with the United Nations and others in the fight against transnational organised crime.

Annual Dues - Pay Now!

As members were informed in previous editions of the Newsletter, individual dues for 2001 remain at USD 30. The Secretary-General would be grateful if all members could now arrange for payment (preferably by credit card) in order to avoid sending individual reminders.

General Counsel - contact details

The General Counsel’s telephone and fax numbers have changed to
+ 44 20 8688 6246. His address and Email address remain the same :

P.O.Box 26508
London SE3 7WN

hancockiap@aol.com