In May a group of ICCBA members participated as speakers at the famous Siracusa Institute in Sicily, Italy, which has been active for forty years promoting international law issues. The Siracusa Institute invited the ICCBA to enter into a working relationship and an agreement to do so was signed jointly in Siracusa between the ICCBA and the President of the Institute- Jean-François Thony. We hope to develop together joint programmes, particularly relating to the ICC, starting with a course next year for francophone participants.
The ICCBA has partnered with the Siracusa Institute to launch the Programme that represents a new, multi-annual and globally oriented training framework for the promotion and protection of defence rights and fundamental human rights in international criminal proceedings and national cases on transnational crimes. The Programme is part of a global effort to enhance defence rights in the international criminal justice chain through different entry-level and specialisation courses.
The Programme officially started with the inaugural Course on “Fundamentals on Defence Rights before International Courts”, which was held between May 15-19 at the Siracusa Institute’s Headquarters. Applications are now open for the Specialisation Course on“Cases Related to Financial Crime, Money Laundering, and Terrorism Financingwhich will be held in Siracusa from 17 to 19 July.
The Programme is specifically designed for international defence lawyers, jurists and in-house counsel dealing with cases related to defence rights in international and national jurisdictions, as well as international investigations into transnational crimes such as money laundering, drug trafficking, and cybercrime.
The Programme has an outstanding Academia of world-renowned practitioners and jurists whose expertise, patronage and prestige will ensure the highest standards across all aspects of the Programme. Members of the Academia also serve as lecturers and academic advisers.
Together with the ICCBA, other partners of the Programme are the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA), the Association Internationale de Droit Pénal (AIDP), the International Criminal Justice Consortium (ICJC), the Centre d’Etudes sur la Sécurité Internationale et le Coopérations Européennes (CESICE) of the University of Grenoble, and the Italian Scuola Superiore dell’Avvocatura (SSA). The Siracusa Institute is in talks with several other Lawyers’ Associations and International Criminal Law centres of excellence to broaden the platform of partners.
The Siracusa Institute is ready to engage with relevant law societies and bar associations for the continuing legal education accreditation of its Courses, according to their standards and accreditation procedures. The SSA has already accredited all Programme’s courses, and other national bar associations are in the process of granting accreditation.
Details on the Programme, its Academia and the calendar of training courses can be found here: http://internationaldefencecounsel.siracusainstitute.org
Please subscribe to the Programme’s newsletter to receive regular updates or write to the following email address for further assistance: idc@siracusainstitute.org