Strengthening the (criminal) justice system in Suriname

This project will contribute to the overall objective of the regional programme by enhancing capacity development of the criminal justice actors and promoting closer inter-agency cooperation. The project aims to improve the capacities of the judiciary, prosecution and police with the ultimate goal of reducing the current backlog, improving the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of criminal proceedings and increasing access to justice for citizens.

The specific objectives/outcomes are:

• To strengthen the capacity of the judiciary to advance proceedings and reduce the backlog of cases;
• To strengthen the capacity of the prosecution to deal with environmental crimes, youth probation and alternative sanctions;
• To strengthen the managerial capacity and learning culture of the police to improve its services.

The judiciary component of the project includes the design and delivery of six theoretical training programme for trainee judges; legal staff and court clerks, both for criminal law and civil law. Sustainability of these training programmes will be ensured via training of future trainers and embedding of the programmes in the CDR curriculum, the judicial training institute in Suriname.

The prosecution component focuses on the design and delivery of two training programmes to strengthen the professional capacity of prosecutors. One course will focus on combatting environmental crimes and the other course on juvenile justice, youth probation and alternative sanctions. In addition, (new) public prosecutors will be offered an internship in the Dutch Caribbean to enhance their practical skills and provide new insights from overseas colleagues. Also here, the approach will include training of future trainers.

The component for the Police in Suriname (KPS) focuses on the design and delivery of a Police Leadership Course (Masterclass Leadership 2024) for senior police officers and (future) management of the KPS. The course will be embedded in the Police Academy. The course is built around 5 competences and qualities (social communicative, organisational, emotional, intellectual; and task-oriented).