15 November 2008
The UNODC Regional Office for South Asia Project "Strengthening the law enforcement response in India against trafficking in persons through training and capacity building" is a joint initiative of the UNODC and the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs.
Under that project, UNODC ROSA teamed with the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) of India to organize a one day Colloquium on Justice Delivery in Human Trafficking Crimes for Judicial Officers, Prosecutors and Police Officers on 15 November 2008 in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The colloquium involved all three wings of the criminal justice system, from all over India. Participants also included representatives from the media, UN agencise, civil society partners and students as observers. More than 250 senior officials attended this event.
Objectives of the Colloquium were:
The technical sessions focused substantively on the following:
Several recommendations and suggestions were made during the four technical sessions and also during the final sessions. Chief among these were:
The involvement of the Minister of Law, National Legal Services Authority, senior Supreme Court and High Court judges and the Chief Justice of India made this colloquium of key significance to the development of law enforcement machinery in India. During their addresses, the Chief Justice of India and the NALSA reiterated the importance of holding regional and state level anti-human trafficking colloquiums to build upon the sucess of this national level event.
The Valediction function was presided over by Dr. H.R. Bhardwaj, Hon'ble Union Minister for Law and Justice, and the Presidential Address was conveyed by Hon'ble Dr. Justice Arijit Pasayat, Judge, Supreme Court of India and Executive Chairman NALSA. The Hon'ble Law Minister commended the efforts of NALSA and UNODC in conducting such a Colloquium in bringing together the three wings of the criminal justice system together for a co-ordinated response to the crimes of human trafficking.
UNODC ROSA looks forward to developing further programmes and projects on criminal justice reforms, judicial integrity, capacity building of judicial offers in the entire region on the organized crime of human trafficking.
For more information about the Colloquium, visit the website of
UNODC Regional Office for South Asia.
To download more information about the Colloquium, click here.
For more information about the work of UNODC's Regional Office for South Asia generally, click here.