Adjudication of Transnational Crimes: Environmental Law Crimes in Africa and Central and Eastern Europe

CEELI Training 2022

15 August – 3 September 2022

This 3-week blended learning course is designed for judges handling cases involving transnational environmental crimes. We will use environmental crimes case studies that involve both domestic and international law. It will examine the challenges of adjudicating such crimes, including cross-border issues, determining individual and state responsibility, and the limitations of international law in addressing obligations of non-state actors such as businesses and transnational corporations.

Our faculty, comprised of European and African judges together with professional and academic experts, will explore the relevant law and issues for judges to consider when dealing with environmental cases.

AIMS

Encourage regional dialogue between judges in Africa and Europe on the adjudication of environmental crimes.
Analyse the international standards in adjudicating crimes, and linkages between human rights law and the environment, obliging them to think strategically and pro-actively in the changing world of environmental crimes to promote trust and confidence in the judiciary.
Identify training and other resources needed by the judiciary when dealing with environmental crimes.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Enhance the overall competencies of judges to adjudicate environmental cases objectively.
Increase levels of understanding of the various types of environmental crimes that can be prosecuted.
Provide an overview of international and regional standards and specialized institutions on environmental crimes.
Examine the role of the judiciary in environmental crime cases and what further supports are necessary to strengthen capacity in this area.

TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED AND ADDRESSED

What is an environmental crime?
What international standards apply?
Individual, state, and corporate responsibility.
How to prosecute crimes through the courts, including the role of the police and prosecution.
Sentencing options in environmental crimes.
Cross border challenges.
The role of the courts.

STRUCTURE AND APPROACH TO LEARNING

The blended course has two components: the first component which is online and the second component which is in-person and will take place in Prague at the CEELI Institute.

Online: 15 –31 August 2022:

Using our dedicated learning platform CEELI online, we will propose a light-touch engagement two weeks before the Workshop. The purpose of this online component is to:

Enable participants to introduce each other and get to know their fellow participants’ backgrounds.
Gather basic information on the understanding and experiences of the participants of the issues in order to further assist Faculty in the preparation of the content of the workshop.
Identify areas of focus for the workshop.
Provide a platform through which the Faculty and participants can start to share resources and interact.
Invite participants to a live webinar panel session one week prior to the workshop, with key experts from Africa and Europe, to introduce the issues and provide a brief overview of key points.

In-person: 02 – 03 September 2022:

This two-day workshop will take place onsite at the CEELI Institute in Villa Grébovka, Prague, from Thursday evening to Saturday late afternoon. The teaching and learning methodology employed will consist of mini-talks and lectures, group discussion, presentations, role play, and panels, along with ample time for informal networking opportunities. A central goal of our approach is to facilitate regional and international knowledge and exchange. The workshop will enable judges to develop and export successful models for addressing issues related to judicial performance, ethics, and independence.

WHO CAN TAKE PART?

The workshop is open to judges from the African Judicial Exchange Network and the Central and Eastern European Judicial Exchange Network. Experience in environmental law or adjudicating environmental cases is a plus. The training will be conducted in English.

To apply, please complete the online course application form by 9:00 am CEST on 4 July 2022.

FACULTY

The international faculty will include judges, academics, researchers, and other subject matter experts.

Course Flyer

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Supporting Judges on the Front Lines in Combating Terrorism

By Lauriane Labourel / November 28, 2016

In October, the CEELI Institute continued its ongoing efforts to support judges in countries on the front lines in the fight against terrorism, with support from the US Department of State’s Counterterrorism Bureau. This latest program brought together judges from the Middle East and North Africa--specifically, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Lebanon--along with judicial counterparts from the US and Germany for the intensive three day exchange on useful practices for judges faced with adjudicating cases involving terrorism and national security issues. Our program curriculum again followed the format we developed for previous trainings provided to judges and prosecutors in the Western Balkans, relying on The Hague Memorandum on Good Practices for the Judiciary in Adjudicating Terrorism Offenses, a Good Practice...

Justice Kennedy Joins CEELI/IBA Event

By Lauriane Labourel / October 6, 2016

The CEELI Institute was delighted to join with the IBA in hosting U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on September 23, in Washington, DC, at the IBA Rule of Law Forum. CEELI Institute Founder and Board Chair Homer Moyer moderated a discussion with the Justice on issues related to the role of the judiciary, the meaning of the Rule of Law, and the application of international law as a reference point for the Court. The Justice also took questions from the audience. It was an inspirational and informative session, and we were thrilled to be a part of it.

NGOs as Judicial Watchdogs: A New Report and Recommendations

By Lauriane Labourel / September 29, 2016

The CEELI Institute is gratified to have participated in the preparation of a landmark effort to promote and define the role of NGOs in monitoring court proceedings and the function of the judiciary. The final project report, NGOs and the Judiciary: Watchdog Activities, Interactions, Collaboration, and Communication, was recently published by the Warsaw based Polish NGO, the Institute for Law and Society (INPRIS). The publication represents the culmination of a two-year effort, funded by the International Visegrad Fund (www.visegradfund.org) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. The CEELI Institute was one of six key NGOS contributing to this effort, along with counterparts in Poland, Slovakia, Albania, Macedonia and Serbia. The report establishes key recommendations and good...

CEELI at The Hague: An Update on CEELI Judicial Tools

By Lauriane Labourel / September 29, 2016

CEELI Institute Executive Director Christopher Lehmann and Judge Cristi Danilet from Romania recently led a panel at the Annual Conference of the International Association of Administrative Courts (IACA) held in the The Hague in May, where they were asked to present the CEELI Institute’s The Manual on Independence, Impartiality and Integrity of Justice. The Manual is a unique tool, representing a systematic survey of virtually all relevant international standards applicable to the function, performance and operation of the judiciary. It cross-references over 130 international conventions and other sources of public international law, organizing relevant sources according to thematic categories of interest and use to judges in their work. The tool is, in short, a map to the judicial profession and...

US and Pakistani Judges Meet at the CEELI Institute

By Lauriane Labourel / September 29, 2016

The CEELI Institute was delighted to recently welcome our first-ever delegation from Pakistan. In late August, the US Embassy in Islamabad (INL), the US Department of Justice (OPDAT) and the US Federal Judicial Center organized a joint exchange at the Institute bringing together Judges of the Lahore High Court (Punjab Province) and the US federal judiciary for several days of in-depth dialogue on issues of case management and court administration. Among those participating in the discussions was Federal Judicial Center Director, Judge Jeremy Fogel.

Belgrade: The 2016 Conference of Chief Justices of Central and Eastern Europe

By Lauriane Labourel / September 29, 2016

The CEELI Institute was delighted to again support the work of the Conference of Chief Justices of Central and Eastern Europe, which was hosted in June of this year, in Belgrade, by the Supreme Cassational Court of Serbia. The Conference is now a self-sustaining body that has met annually since its inception in 2011, allowing the Chief Justices to discuss common challenges, share ideas and work towards solutions. This year saw two additional signatories—Serbia and Georgia-- to the Conference’s Statement of Principles of the Independence of the Judiciary, known now as the Brijuni Statement (due to its original drafting and signing in 2015 at the Croatian seaside town of Brijuni). That statement reaffirms regional commitments to judicial independence and the...

Belgrade: CEELI supports this year’s Conference of Chief Justices of Central and Eastern Europe

By Lauriane Labourel / July 21, 2016

The CEELI Institute we delighted to support this year’s Conference of Chief Justices of Central and Eastern Europe, held in Belgrade on June 20-22, and hosted by the Supreme Cassational Court of Serbia. The Conference of Chief Justices is a self-sustaining organization whose members lead the judiciaries of twenty-three nations from the Baltic Sea to the Caucasus. The Conference meets annually in one of the member countries to address the many common challenges faced by the Chief Justices in improving their countries’ judiciaries, promoting judicial independence, strengthening integrity and accountability, improving court management, fighting corruption, and building public support for the courts. The CEELI Institute has been honored to support the work and mission of the Conference since its inception...

CEELI Institute Annual Meeting 2016 Wrap-Up

By Lauriane Labourel / July 14, 2016

The Villa Grébovka was packed with friends and colleagues from around the world for the Institute’s Annual Meeting on June 26th-28th, 2016. Board members, faculty, donors, former CEELI alums, and many more friends and colleagues came together in Prague for an opportunity to review our efforts over the past year, and to look ahead to programs for the coming year. This year’s meeting focused particularly on the ongoing challenges involved in delivering assistance in environments that are experiencing deliberate repression of civil society. Attention was given not just to the problems, but to possible solutions, including examination of effective strategies for delivering development assistance and supporting civil society in the face of hostile environments and government repression. We were particularly...

Promoting Good Practices for Terrorism Adjudication in the Balkans

By Lauriane Labourel / July 14, 2016

In June, the CEELI Institute continued its efforts on a multi-year program to engage judges handling complex cases involving issues of terrorism and national security, including the increasingly serious threats posed in Europe by the transit of foreign terrorist fighters. The program, which aims to promote understanding and use of relevant international “good practices” for judges on these matters, including particularly the Global Counter-terrorism Forum’s (GCTF) Hague Memorandum Good Practices for the Judiciary in Adjudicating Terrorism Offenses, convened a group of 21 judges from the Western Balkans for a 3-day session form June 15-17. Judges from Albania, Bosnia electrax crack and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia, as well as prosecutors from Macedonia, were present at the session which...