OSCE, EU develop capacity of legal practitioners dealing with war crimes on effective communication and public diplomacy

A two-day workshop on effective communication with media and public relations (PR) for legal practitioners dealing with war crimes was organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia with support of the European Union on 6 and 7 February in Belgrade.

Participants included some 20 representatives of the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor’ Office (WCPO) and the Ministry of Interior’s (MoI) War Crimes Investigation Service and the Protection Unit.

The main topics of the workshop included communication with journalists and media professionals, proactive engagement with the media, presentation skills, crisis communication and the issue of the right to information and confidentiality of proceedings in communication with the public.

This event is a part of the capacity-development activities for domestic legal practitioners and police officers dealing with war crimes, envisaged in the multi-partner project “Facility supporting the Strengthening Rule of Law in the Republic of Serbia” co-financed by the European Union, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC).

In the period 2022-2024, in co-operation with the Judicial Academy, the Ministry of Interior and the Bar Academy, and with the EU financing, the OSCE Mission to Serbia will deliver up to 20-days of training courses, roundtable discussions and workshops on topics relevant for judicial assistants, judges, prosecutorial deputies and assistants, police officers, defense lawyers and other staff engaged in the area of war crimes processing.