Project profile — Building Strong Procedural Mechanisms for Mutual Legal Assistance- Phase II

This project supports implementing the recommendations in the National Roadmaps for Building Strong Procedural Mechanisms for Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA), building on progress from Phase I (P010782) It aims to improve how Kenya and Somalia address MLA and extradition requests and strengthen international judicial cooperation (IJC) for Kenya and Somalia mechanisms in partnership with their IJC institutions. The project seeks to continue support to Somalia in drafting its first IJC law and standardizing IJC processes by updating or developing MLA guidelines for foreign states. It also aims to expand to assess IJC needs and gaps assessments in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and South Sudan and engage them in a regional meeting to enhance judicial cooperation at the regional level. The ultimate goal is to make cross-border crime and terrorism investigations and prosecutions more effective. Project activities include: (1) conducting workshops to improve the capacity of Somali practitioners in drafting MLA request; (2) piloting training for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions practitioners on counterterrorism investigations, including international judicial cooperation, and formally launching the curriculum; (3) organizing workshops for Somali Federal Parliament members on IJC mechanisms; (4) conducting a workshop to conceptualize and support developing a case management system for MLA requests in Kenya; (5) conducting a comprehensive needs assessment of IJC for regional stakeholders; and (6) hosting sub-regional events to strengthen IJC mechanisms.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) enhanced efficiency and capability of central and competent authorities in Kenya and Somalia in processing MLA requests and handling international cooperation in criminal matters in a gender-responsive manner; and (2) strengthened regional collaboration mechanisms for addressing transnational crime through improved IJC.

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