Officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have started a two-day training programme at the Daniel Mckorley Moot Courtroom at the GIMPA Law School aimed at providing an in-depth overview of International Criminal Law and Justice to private legal practitioners, Public Prosecutors and law enforcement agencies.

The training is being facilitated by the African Centre of International Criminal Justice (ACICJ), a centre set up by the ICC in Ghana to help build legal capacity across the African continent by providing international criminal law education to African lawmakers, judges, lawyers, law enforcement agencies, journalists, law students. Civil Society and the general public at large.

The two-day training programme dubbed, “The International Criminal Court: An Overview” has officials from the Attorney General’s Department, The Ghana Armed Forces, Economic and Organized Crime Office ( EOCO), Narcotic Control Board (NACOB), Judiciary, Ghana Police Service, Ghana Prisons Service and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in attendance.

Addressing participants at the Opening Ceremony of the Training Programme, Senior Trial Lawyer of the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Jean-Jacques Badibanga said the ICC sees Ghana as a rising star on the African continent and that he is hopeful the training will equip the participants to better understand the work of the ICC and thereby earn the support and confidence of Ghanaian state institutions in their bid to help maintain peace and security on the continent.

Panel Discussion

The two-day training among other things will focus on areas such as history of International Criminal Law and Justice, legal basis and justification for the establishment of the ICC, Jurisdiction and Processes of the ICC, the role and rights of participants in proceedings before the ICC, the ICC and Africa: situations, cases and court.

The training session will end with a panel discussion on the topic, International Criminal Law and Justice at a crossroads. The panel will comprise Kofi Abotsi, Dean of the GIMPA Law School, Jean Jacques Badibanga, Senior Trail Lawyer ICC, Dahirou Sant-Anna, International Cooperation Advisor ICC, Edmund Foley, Lecturer and Head of Public Law Department, GIMPA Law School, and Dr. Fructose Bigirimana, Dean, Faculty of Law, INES Ruhengeri, Rwanda.

Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM/Wilberforce Asare