RAMALLAH, July 1, 2010 (WAFA)- EUPOL COPPS’ Rule of Law section hosted today, an information seminar on all the section’s activities that brought together representatives from its local counterparts -Attorney General’s Office, High Judicial Council, Bar Association- and also representatives from the EU’s Member States as well as from the international donor community at large, a EUPOL COPPS press release said.

 This information seminar had the purpose of making a comprehensive presentation on all Rule of Law projects and activities that are running at the moment. For this, the different teams of the Section -Judiciary, Prosecution, Ministry of Justice, Penitentiary, and Defense Counsel experts- made short presentations on their own work, the press release added.

 In his opening remarks EUPOL COPPS’ Head of Mission, Commissioner Henrik Malmquist, highlighted that “all presented Rule of Law section projects have been thoroughly consulted with national counterparts and mutually agreed upon. Our Rule of Law advisers and national counterparts will work together in every step of the implementation phase, it continued on.

Hence EUPOL COPPS’ Rule of Law section projects are to be understood as a shared effort between the Palestinian Justice institutions and EUPOL COPPS, having local ownership as our guiding principle”.

During his presentation EUPOL COPPS’ Rule of Law section head, Nicholas Robson, mentioned that “under Commissioner Malmquist’s direction, the two sections of the Mission -the Police Advisory and Rule of Law- have come much closer together. In all police projects, there is a ROL Adviser assigned to advise on legal aspects. Similarly, in many of the ROL projects, a police advisor is assigned”.

 This seminar is an example of how EUPOL COPPS’ emphasis on linking up with other international players involved in police and justice reform, coordinating with other donors such as the EC, Canada, Germany, The Netherlands and the UK.