OSCE seminar discusses role of judicial training institutions
ASHGABAT, 17 September 2010 - An OSCE-organized seminar on the provision of initial and regular in-service professional training for judges and prosecutors was held in Ashgabat today.
Organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat in co-operation with the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan, the one-day event gathered more than twenty representatives from the Supreme Court, General Prosecutor's Office, Mejlis (Parliament), Institute of State and Law under the President of Turkmenistan, Academy of Civil Service and the Magtymguly Turkmen State University.
International experts shared with participants best practices and lessons learned from training institutions in France, Italy, Lithuania and Turkey. The creation of and role played by national training centres in the development and management of initial and regular in-service training for judges, public prosecutors and other court staff was also discussed.
"Since it was established in 1999, the OSCE Centre has attached special importance to enriching the knowledge of the judiciary, which is a guarantor of the democratic functioning of institutions. The event today aims to share information on the crucial role played by national judicial training centres in advancing judges and prosecutors' legal education and skills, as well as in keeping them abreast of new legal developments, both at the national and international level," said Ambassador Arsim Zekolli, the Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.
"It is essential that judges and public prosecutors receive comprehensive and diversified professional training so that they are able to perform their duties appropriately, sensitively and in a professional manner. Outstanding and regular legal education is a prerequisite if judges and public prosecutors are to be worthy of citizens' trust and respect."
The event was a follow-up to a study trip to the Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature in Bordeaux organized by the Centre in May 2009 to familiarize Turkmenistan's officials with the training and re-training system for the judiciary in France.