ODIHR workshop in Plovdiv completes training programme for police and prosecutors on addressing hate crimes in Bulgaria

The final event of a training programme designed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to improve co-operation between police officers and prosecutors in addressing hate crimes in Bulgaria was held on 27 and 28 February 2018 in Plovdiv.

The training course, organized with the support of Bulgaria’s Prosecutor General’s Office, the National Institute of Justice and the International Association of Prosecutors, gathered 21 police officers and prosecutors, including 13 men and 8 women.

“Good co-operation between police services and prosecutors is instrumental in recognizing and countering hate crimes,” said Yulia Korysheva, Assistant Programme Officer at ODIHR. “With this in mind, we designed a curriculum that goes beyond the traditional approach of training police and prosecutors separately, attempting to bridge the gap in co-operation. The better the co-ordination within the justice system is, the more effective its overall response to hate crime will be.”

Francois Deleu, a course trainer and expert on hate crimes, said: “Exploring real-life cases and familiar issues helped strengthen the participants’ understanding of the material and provoked discussions that we hope will lead to improvements in daily co-operation between the two professional groups. Helping the participants realize the important role they play in combatting hate crimes is another important result of this training.”

The event followed similar courses in Sofia and Veliko Tarnovo earlier this year. The training curriculum was based on ODIHR’s programmes Prosecutors and Hate Crimes Training (PAHCT) and Training against Hate Crimes for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE), which were tailored to Bulgaria’s specific needs and realities.

The training was part of activities implemented by ODIHR within the Building a Comprehensive Criminal Justice Response to Hate Crime project.