Programs
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| Croatian judicial officials discuss critical issues regarding the right to a fair trial, including specific rights of the accused, the duty of judges and prosecutors to protect these rights, and the challenges they face in ensuring a fair trial. |
The ABA also supported activities to strengthen professional relationships between Croatian and international legal professionals involved in the investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of war crimes and other complex criminal matters. The ABA, the Croatian Judicial Academy, and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Outreach Program organized a study visit to the ICTY for Croatian judges and prosecutors in February and March 2005. The visit was designed to strengthen the cooperation between the ICTY and Croatian judicial officials who are assigned to adjudicate war crime cases, and to discuss issues likely to arise in connection with any future transfer of cases or evidence from the ICTY to Croatia. The participants included judges and prosecutors from the main courts designated for any cases that may be transferred from the ICTY to Croatia, Supreme Court justices and State Attorney General Deputies.
Curriculum Development and Professional Training
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| As part of its training in adjudicating war crimes cases, the ABA held a workshop for prosecutors that focused on investigating and prosecuting war crimes involving massacres. |
In 2004, the ABA sought to develop, pilot and begin implementation of a continuing professional education curriculum for police, prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys and other judicial officials. The program focused on enhancing the professional expertise and skills required to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate war crimes and other complex criminal matters.
The ABA worked closely with the Croatian Ministry of Justice, the State Attorney General's Office, the Police Academy and the Judicial Academy to develop a coordinated and needs-responsive professional training program.
The ABA and its partners prepared a war crimes adjudication curriculum. The draft curriculum for the education of police, prosecutors, judges and defense attorneys consists of eight training modules:
- Witness/Victim Protection
- Camp & Massacre Case Studies
- Defending War Crime Cases
- Attacking the War Criminal Support Network
- Practical guide to ICTY
- Command Responsibility
- Right to a Fair Trial
- Practical skills training for the Police
Publications
Background
The ABA launched its program in Croatia in spring 1993 with the posting of its first liaison in Zagreb and completed its last full-time program in-country in July 2006.
The ABA worked with a wide range of actors involved in reforming and promoting the rule of law, including the Ministry of Justice, the Croatian Bar Association, the Croatian Judges' Association, law schools, international organizations and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The ABA's most recent program in Croatia focused exclusively on improving the capacity of the Croatian legal system to adjudicate war crimes cases justly.
The ABA office in Croatia closed in July 2006.
