Technical Assistance

National Training

The network promotes the establishment and strengthening of central authorities in the region. Through regular meetings and trainings, the network enables central authorities and relevant practitioners to exchange information about their respective legal systems and procedures, to develop a common language and to share good practices. The expected result is professionals who can more effectively draft, prepare and respond to requests for mutual legal assistance and extradition. WACAP also strengthens the capacity of prosecutors/magistrates to address various forms of organized and serious crime, leading to successful prosecutions and cooperation at the regional and international levels. Since its creation, the WACAP successfully conducted national training for judicial officers and magistrates in Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, etc.

If WACAP focal points would like to communicate their official needs regarding training on international cooperation, please contact us on unodc-wacap@un.org.

Legislative assistance

The UNODC has been assisting WACAP member countries on legislative reforms upon request.

Examples of Technical Assistance in 2019: 

• Negotiation of three treaties on mutual legal assistance, extradition and transfer of prisoners between Italy and Mali.
• A Nigerian liaison magistrate was deployed in Italy and Spain to which GPTOC team provides mentoring and support to obtain the best operational results.
• A number of 25 judges, prosecutors, central authorities’ staff, investigators and trainers from WACAP Francophone countries were trained on adult teaching methodologies and principles of international judicial cooperation in the framework of a meeting held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire in September 2019. 
• A training of trainers on international judicial cooperation in trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrant’s cases was carried in the same city from 18 to 22 February 2019. A number of 19 persons among them prosecutors, judges and judicial police officers from Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger and Senegal participated in this activity.

 Examples of Technical Assistance in 2018: 

• A sub-regional meeting on how criminal justice systems and civil society can better prevent and address violent extremism in West Africa was held in Dakar, Senegal from 20 to 21 March 2018. 47 representatives (among them 10 women) from different sectors of the justice system, WACAP focal points as well as civil society actors were in attendance.
• WACAP contributed to two workshops in Lagos, Nigeria: one focused on the investigation and prosecution of complex organized crime and drug trafficking cases (16-18 July) and another - on strengthening integrity in the investigation and prosecution of complex cases (19-20 July).
• A training on the legal framework of international cooperation in criminal matters was conducted in Liberia on 9-11 August 2019. The WACAP National Project Officer delivered a training session on how to effectively use the UNODC Mutual Legal Assistance Request Writer Tool, draft a complete request of mutual legal assistance.

 Examples of Technical Assistance in 2017: 

• WACAP and the UNODC-ECOWAS team assisted the Republic of Benin in the review and revision of the country’s national integrated plan on the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime. This includes legislative drafting support especially for a law on international cooperation in criminal matters and WACAP support was requested in this regard.

• CRIMJUST Project - Strengthening criminal investigation and criminal justice cooperation along the cocaine route in Latin America, the Caribbean and West Africa – and the WACAP collaborated to train justice practitioners specialized in criminal justice system and international legal cooperation and with a specific experience in handling organized crime and drug trafficking cases. This joint training was held on 26-28 September 2017 in Lagos.