Prosecutors to brush up on forensic skills

(CNS): The Cayman Islands will be hosting the first ever forensic workshop for the newly formed Caribbean Association of Prosecutors this week when law enforcement officials from the region have their debut meeting. Thirty-nine delegates from the Caribbean British Overseas Territories and the Commonwealth Caribbean countries as well as the UK and Canada will participate along with 23 local delegates, comprising prosecutors and RCIPS personnel including crime scene managers and police officers, officials said Tuesday.  The first training workshop, Enhancing the Effectiveness of Prosecutors in a Challenging Environment, will cover transnational crimes and forensic science.

The workshop is organised jointly with the Commonwealth Secretariat, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office through the Overseas Territories Department Criminal Justice Office in Miami and the Eastern Ontario Regional Forensic Pathology Unit in Canada.
Cayman’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryll Richards, QC, said it meets the association’s objective to ensure continuing education of its members.

“The workshop aims to enhance the delegates’ understanding of critical forensic and scientific data and analysis, transnational crimes’ issues and the care of victims in serious crimes,” she explained. “Such regional training has the potential to significantly improve the quality and delivery of prosecution services across our member countries at a time when the legal environment has become more challenging.”

Experts from the UK, Canada and the Eastern Caribbean are to provide forensic science and pathology training on homicides, expert evidence in DNA profiling, sexual assault, blood spatter pattern analysis and ballistics. The workshop will also underscore the principles of evidence-based cross-examination, the role of the defence expert witness and the effective prosecution of transnational crimes, Deputy Director Trevor Ward outlined.

The conference is also the inaugural meeting of the Caribbean Association of Prosecutors where they will elect officers and determine the way forward.