International Criminal Justice Day

17 July is the Day of International Criminal Justice, also known as World Day for International Justice or International Justice Day.

An important event in the international criminal justice calendar, it marks the anniversary when the Rome Statute was adopted in 1998 – the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court.

It’s a day to unite everyone who wishes to support justice, promote victims’ rights, and help prevent crimes that threaten the peace, security and well-being of the world.

HMCPSI has an important role to inspect England and Wales’s foremost prosecuting bodies: the Crown Prosecution Service and Serious Fraud Organisation. Our inspections are vitally important – driving improvements in the criminal justice system and increasing public trust.

“We pride ourselves as being experts in our field and a significant reason behind this is that we work closely with and learn from our fellow criminal justice inspectorates,” said Anthony Rogers, Chief Inspector.  “HMCPSI is an integral member of the Criminal Justice Joint Inspection (CJJI), which also includes HMICFRS, HMI Prisons and HMI Probation, and we regularly meet to discuss priorities, best practice, as well as joint inspections.”

But HMCPSI doesn’t stop there as the inspectorate also engages and learns from other international colleagues by regularly attending the annual conference organised by the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP).

At the 2023 IAP conference in London, Deputy Chief Inspector Lisa Morris addressed the delegates about the impact that independent published inspection has on public confidence in the criminal justice system.

“It was fascinating to speak to delegates from many other countries from Ireland to the US and from Uganda to the Maldives about the differences in prosecution approaches and how independent inspection is carried out or indeed how there is no independent inspection at all,” said Lisa.

“In every conversation it was clear that delegates could see the real value in independent scrutiny to drive improvement and best practice but also in assuring the public about the prosecution process.”

Lisa Morris was joined at the London IAP conference by fellow Senior Inspector, Rachael Pavion who agreed it was a thought-provoking and inspiring event.

“We heard from a US federal prosecutor about the benefits of Victim Advocates, who are specially trained and support victims throughout the life of a case, while the Director of Public Prosecutions of Barbados outlined the challenges they faced in reducing court backlogs,” said Rachael.

“The conference also afforded us the opportunity to network. It was enlightening about how we may operate differently, but it was clear that we are all committed to improving those systems to deliver the best outcomes for victims and witnesses and improve public confidence.”

HMCPSI Inspector Eleanor Reyland attended the 2022 IAP conference in Tbilisi and found the experience invaluable.

“Whilst there was a clear drive globally for improvement in casework quality, the methods of doing so and challenges faced by other countries were vastly different, with internal corruption and hostile threats to prosecutors being a real issue for many,” said Eleanor.

“Despite these challenges and ever-tightening public budgets faced by our global partners, there was a united understanding that there must be high quality casework from prosecution services to support justice and to protect victims of crime and the wider public.”

Chief Inspector Anthony Rogers said that International Criminal Justice is a great opportunity for us all to learn about the importance of the rule of law and the benefits that brings to citizens.

“I am extremely proud that HMCPSI through its experience can share best practice across the globe, through our membership of IAP, help others improve their criminal justice systems,” said Anthony.