STRENGTHENING THE WORK OF THE JUDICIAL ACADEMY THROUGH CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING IN THE USE OF EXPERT WITNESSING (CRO WIT)
Overall Objective:
Professionalism and efficiency of the judiciary enhanced through raising the quality of continuous training for judges, state attorneys and judicial advisors in Croatia.
Project purpose:
Croatian Judicial Academy’s professional training program in the area of expert witnessing developed and capacities of judges, state attorneys and judicial advisors with the purpose of strengthening better cooperation with expert witnesses in judicial procedures.
This Twinning light project will contribute to the quality of the Croatian Judicial Academy’s professional training programme and training curriculum aimed at judges, state attorneys and judicial advisors. It will also improve their knowledge and skills in the specific area of expert witnessing as well as their cooperation with expert witnesses in the judicial proceedings. These segments of the project will thus have a positive impact on the professional training of judges, state attorneys and judicial advisors as an important factor in the professionalism and competence of the judiciary.
One of the key topics that has been singled out is the role of expert witnesses, i.e. the scope of work and tasks of expert witnesses and the use of expert witnessing in judicial procedures. The Academy has been repeatedly receiving the information from the field, i.e. from judges and state attorneys, that there is insufficient knowledge on that topic and a constant need for its improvement. One of the reasons is the lack of adequate judicial training which would help judicial officials to obtain the knowledge on issues that can be dealt with and answered by expert witnesses and to define tasks for expert witnesses more precisely. Training in this area leads to improvement of the quality of legal proceedings since expert witnesses, with their specialised knowledge in the relevant field, help judges and state attorneys to resolve cases and make the right decisions.
Following the above, it is very important to conduct specific training needs analysis in order to find out in which areas training on expert witnessing is the most needed and to conduct trainings through which judges, state attorneys and judicial advisors will gain relevant knowledge and skills on how to use the expert witnessing in the best possible way. Judicial Academy does not have a specific program or curriculum in the area of expert witnessing.
Workshops for some areas of expert witnessing have already been conducted, however not systematically and it is expected that they will be upgraded through this Twinning light project.
This Twinning light project will enhance capacities of judicial officials and advisors and raise the quality of the Judicial Academy’s professional training programme by upgrading it in the specific areas of expert witnessing and by developing corresponding training curriculum which will ensure the project’s sustainability. This will ultimately expand the Academy’s offer of training programmes and provide a solid basis for further updates by Croatian experts when needed.
Services proposed by the consortium:
• Bringing high quality assistance through qualified and acknowledged experts.
• Ensuring an extensive transfer of knowledge and expertise within the framework of support assistance, and training/workshops and seminars.
• Developing mutually beneficial and efficient partnership between the experts from both countries.
Croatia and Lithuania are planning jointly to achieve the following results:
• Continuous professional training programme of the Judicial Academy in the area of expert witnessing upgraded and corresponding training curriculum will be prepared through the training needs analysis, analysis of the existing continuous professional training programme of the Croatian Judicial Academy, preparation of the training curriculum for judges, state attorneys and judicial advisors.
• Training materials of the Judicial Academy in the field of expert witnessing in civil and in criminal law developed.
• Capacity of judges, state attorneys and judicial advisors improved in order to strengthen their cooperation with expert witnesses and enhance their level of knowledge in the area of expert witnessing in civil and criminal law through the trainings in 3 selected regional centres in Croatia and study visit in Lithuania.
Trainings will involve at least 180 participants (judges, state attorneys and judicial advisors).
Technical project information:
Programme: IPA 2011
Twinning Number: HR/2011/IB/JH/03 TWL
Title: Strengthening the work of the Judicial Academy through curriculum development and training in the use of expert witnessing (CRO WIT)
Sector: Justice, Freedom and Security
Beneficiary country: Republic of Croatia
Project partners: Law Institute of Lithuania, National administration of Courts, Prosecutor’s Office, Forensic Science Centre of Lithuania, Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania, Central Project Management Agency.
Project duration: 02/01/2015 – 02/07/2015 ( 6 months).