Webinar: Cross-country determinants of independence of prosecution [2 December 2024]

Webinar: Cross-country determinants of independence of prosecution [2 December 2024]

Prosecution agencies across the world enjoy varying degrees of independence from the government of the day. In cases of corruption involving state actors and those dealing with the state, their autonomy is crucial to ensure impartiality and public trust.
  • What ACJR Event DOI Event
  • When 02 Dec, 2024 from 03:00 PM to 04:30 PM (Africa/Johannesburg / UTC200)
  • Where Zoom
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In the last decade, analyses by international scholars of the cross-country evidence on the determinants of prosecutorial independence and the prosecution of corruption, provide some insight as to the legislative environment needed for greater independence of prosecution agencies and success at the prosecution of corruption.

A Dullah Omar Institute paper critically analysing this evidence argues that the legislation providing for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in South Africa neither encourages independence nor ensures the prosecution of corruption. This is partly because the key determinants of prosecutorial independence, suggested empirically in the literature by cross-country data, are absent from the legislative framework. The paper proposes significant changes to the National Prosecuting Authority Act to improve independence and to increase the prosecution of corruption, based on this analysis.

In this webinar, the author of the paper, Jean Redpath, will discuss the evidence and proposed improvements to the structure and functioning of the NPA and the legislation which would achieve this. She is joined by Martin Schönteich, international rule of law consultant, who has researched comparative prosecution and the prosecution of corruption extensively.

Facilitator: Prof Lukas Muntingh - Director, Dullah Omar Institute

Panelists:

  1. Dr Jean Redpath - Senior Researcher, Dullah Omar Institute
  2. Dr Martin Schönteich - International Consultant

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Following registration, participants will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

We would like to acknowledge the Open Society Foundations and the Sigrid Rausing Trust for making this webinar possible.