The training was dedicated to judges, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, the Administration for the prevention of money laundering and the Tax Police Department. The Judicial Academy has been supported by the UNODC in this training.

On behalf of the Judicial Academy (JA), Majda Kršikapa, Deputy Director of the JA addressed this four-day seminar.

At the outset of her speech, Kršikapa underlined:
„In designing and implementing these joint trainings, we were prompted by a request to establish cooperation among representatives of all institutions whose work is linked to corruption cases, with a common goal i.e. to strengthen the capacity of government institutions in enforcing the new Law on combating economy offences and corruptive criminal practices”.

The Law on organization and jurisdiction of government authorities in suppression of organized crime, terrorism and corruption stipulates mandatory attendance of continuous training programmes implemented by the Judicial Academy for holders of judicial functions. Representatives of the law enforcement, within the meaning of this Law, are also obligated to attend continuous training programs implemented by the Judicial Academy in cooperation with other institutions.

In view of this legal requirement, in the preceding period the Judicial Academy organized a large number of seminars and workshops aimed at advancing the knowledge of holders of judiciary functions at all four Appellate Courts jurisdiction seats. Of course, there is still a need for training in the area of financial crimes and corruption.

She added that, during 2018, in response to numerous requests for professional advancement of all target groups, the Judicial Academy conducted 123 workshops, seminars and lectures in the area of criminal law only, which included 3531 participants and 488 lecturers. The suppression of corruption and organized crime and financial investigations covered 13% of the total number of trainings held in the area of criminal law. The seminars were conducted on the following topics: The prevention and the fight against corruption: Financial investigations in the fight against corruption, then, Training of trainers in the area of financial investigations and Financial and criminal investigations and assessment of evidence“.

As for 2018, we wish to point out, in particular, the trainings of 610 judges, prosecutors, representatives of law enforcement and financial forensic experts who were members of the task force in the fight against corruption and who attended the training at the Judicial Academy at the time the new Law was enforced. The value-added component in our joint trainings, in addition to outstanding domestic lecturers, is the contribution rendered by international experts and practitioners who have shared their huge experience and knowledge in this field with our trainees.

Through the implementation of joint trainings, we also respond to strategic requirements of the Republic of Serbia for advancing the system of financial investigations for the purpose of strengthening a systemic protection of the society against criminal practices and its consequences, by applying contemporary solutions through better cooperation of all relevant institutions and by creating and offering continuous training to expert profiles required at national level.

In the forthcoming period, it will be up to the Judicial Academy to demonstrate even greater commitment and desire to improve its training programs, giving more emphasis to the contents, concepts and methodologies, in order to render the best quality training to its trainees.

All institutions that take part in the justice administration chain should be dedicated to the implementation of continuous training programs and in this way we would jointly develop our network of experts and professionals in specialized areas, such as combating corruption, organized crime, terrorism, economic crimes and money laundering.

It is clear that such an approach requires personal investments in terms of time, energy and respective financial means. The Judicial Academy could not handle all the planned educational events on its own i.e. without the support of its local and international partners.

On this occasion, Mrs Kršikapa expressed special gratitude to the Judicial Academy’s partners: the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) who have contributed to capacity building of government intuitions on national level in applying and enforcing the law through the implementation of the Joint UNODC/CEPOL Capacity Building Project on Financial Investigations in South Eastern Europe.