06.11.2007

Puerto Rican judges and prosecutors discuss adversarial criminal justice procedures with Ecuadorian participants in Quito in November, 2006.

The ABA Rule of Law Initiative has recently started a criminal justice reform project in Ecuador to promote ongoing criminal justice system reforms and to train prosecutors, judges and national police to work in a mixed accusatorial and inquisitorial justice system. The goal of the project is to train prosecutors, judges and police to be more effective in their own roles within the administration and enforcement of justice, and to be able to train their colleagues as well.

This will be achieved by hosting a series of cross-disciplinary conferences, workshops, trainings and study tours focused on the importance of collaboration between the players in the criminal justice system. Four nationwide conferences will be held in Cuenca, Quito, Guayaquil, and Riobamaba in May, 2007. These conferences will provide a basic orientation in how to manage criminal cases in an accusatorial system,

The project will provide Ecuadorians with tools and knowledge to work in an accusatorial justice system including: developing the narrative of a case, understanding the trial process, preparing witnesses and the presentation of evidence. The target groups for this project include 400 prosecutors, 136 judges and 1500 National Police officers.

For more information, please contact Project Director Charles Caruso, at <carusoch@staff.abanet.org>.