Peruvian judges and prosecutors visit Spain to learn about tools in the fight against drugs

Illicit drug trafficking and organised crime is one of the main challenges facing Peru today. With the aim of improving the instruments for combating these crimes and seeking solutions to combat them, the European project led by the FIIAPP  Law enforcement support in the fight against drugs and organised crime in Peru, has organised a study visit to Spain for judges and prosecutors from the Special Courts of Peru.

This experience, which took place between Madrid and Barcelona, provided them with knowledge of the specialised courts in Europe that are responsible for prosecuting these crimes and of the specialised prosecutors’ offices linked to them. The Peruvian professionals have also received guidelines for the development of the curricula of the different judicial, prosecutorial and police training centres.

Supreme Prosecutor Bersabeth Felicitas Revilla Corrales, highlighted “the excellent planning and execution” of the activity, the success of which was due to the “good selection of places to visit and observe, as well as the information provided, both verbally and documented”.

The study visit has allowed Peruvian judges and prosecutors to learn about other jurisdictional models and their management and, in this way, to incorporate new skills, capacities and knowledge in the development of their activities.

Peru’s Chief Prosecutor, Elmer Atilio Chirre Castillo, stressed that this study visit to Spain has been “enriching” and “very useful to apply to our accusatory system” thanks to the knowledge acquired about “the tools used to combat organised crime”. He also pointed out that “it is necessary for legal systems to promote the application of new techniques to combat organised crime, which is changing every day. Ongoing training for all justice operators is imperative”.

In Madrid, the Peruvian professionals visited the headquarters of the Supreme Court, the National High Court and the State Prosecutor’s Office, where they learned first-hand about their jurisdictional activity. In Barcelona, the headquarters of the Judicial School, they participated in workshops on the resolution of conflicts arising in hearings and complex cases in hearings.

The Peruvian Superior Judge César Sahuanay concluded that “this type of event is so important that it is necessary to consolidate them as a way of coordinating efforts to achieve greater solvency in the investigation, prosecution and trial of cases of organised crime and illicit drug trafficking”.

The Programme

The European Union Law Enforcement Support in the Fight against Drugs and Organised Crime in Peru project was born in 2019 with the intention of increasing the effectiveness of drug control policies and the fight against organised crime in Peru. Thus, its actions are structured on the basis of improving education and professional training to strengthen the schools of the main entities linked to the justice system in the prosecution of these crimes. These curricula pay special attention to ethics, human rights and equality between men and women.

Likewise, the programme seeks to facilitate and articulate cooperation between the entities in charge of criminal investigations and supports inter-institutional training, involving all entities involved in these investigations, strengthening links and trust.