After a long delay caused by the pandemic, the CEELI Institute was thrilled to finally be able to host training sessions with Indian judges at the Villa Grébovka in Prague. The Institute started cooperating with the National Judicial Academy of India and the U.S. Federal Judicial Center in 2017, to assist the Indian judicial system in increasing its prosecutorial capacity and in keeping pace with modern forms of crimes. Together, we designed “training-of-trainers” programs for three small groups of Indian judges and Justices, aiming to craft new curricula on Counterterrorism, Cybercrime, and Human Trafficking. Our cybercrime and human trafficking training workshops started online due to the pandemic, and we were delighted to finally welcome both groups at the Villa Grébovka in late May and early June.
A Special Visit from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India
We were honored to receive the visit of Hon. D.Y. Chandrachud, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India at the opening of our workshop on cybercrime. After describing the challenges posed by cybercrime to our judiciaries and societies all over the world, the Chief Justice delivered inspiring remarks on the qualities of a good instructor and the importance of sharing stories with the audience. He also pointed out that, as the old Indian adage goes, “in teaching, we learn”; and become better instructors and persons.
More about the Cybercrime Training
Training Indian Judges to Tackle Human Trafficking
“Human trafficking is a very sensitive issue,” said Indian Supreme Court Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, one of the cybercrime program participants. “It doesn’t have any international, national, regional, or even gender boundaries; it’s all-encompassing. For that reason, it can be intimidating from the point of view of a judge.”
“Programs like [the CEELI Institute training] help India’s legal system and its judges,” Justice Amanullah said. “When a judge is more informed, it’s easier for them to know what laws to apply. Laws are useless if they are only on paper.”
More about the Human Trafficking Training
What’s Next?
- We are excited to share that the CEELI Institute is preparing an international conference entitled “South Asia Judicial Education Summit: Preparing Judges to Adjudicate Terrorism Cases” on September 2-3 in Bhopal, India. The National Judicial Academy of India will host jurists from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, the Republic of Maldives, Sri Lanka, and the United States to discuss regional collaboration on efforts to prepare judges for terrorism cases.
- We are continuing our “training-of-trainers” series throughout the Fall. On October 7-8, our group working on cybercrime cases will present its new curriculum in Bhopal. The following week, our human trafficking group will hold a final workshop to finalize its curriculum, before presenting it in December.