EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF PROSECUTORS
As representatives of our country, Deputy Secretary General Mr. Sinan Ekici, Rapporteur Judge Mr. Ali Rıza Ülker and Public Prosecutor of Ankara Regional Court of Justice Hülya Çetin attended the European Conference of Prosecutors which was held in Palermo, Italy on 5-6 May 2022 in the framework of the Italian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers and in co-operation with the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors (CCPE), and then visited the Palermo Courthouse.
High-level prosecutorial delegations from the 46 Member States of the Council of Europe and from the United States, Algeria, Morocco, Canada, Kazakhstan, Libya, Tunisia and the Vatican, as well as the representatives of organizations such as the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors, the International Association of Prosecutors and the Cybercrime Convention Committee took part in the conference.
Within the scope of the program, the participants visited the Aula Bunker, located in the Palermo Courthouse, where the trials against organized crime organizations were held in the 1990s, in order to get information about the investigations and trials against illegal structures in Italy and to do an outcome evaluation of the conference.
The conference started with the opening speech of Giovanni Salvi, Prosecutor General of the Italian Court of Cassation, at the Palermo Norman Palace. Three separate sessions were held on ‘Prosecutorial Independence, Autonomy and Accountability: Different Models, Common Challenges in Protection of Human Rights’, ‘Investigating and Prosecuting Environmental Crimes’ and ‘Financial Crimes’. In the second session of the conference, Hülya Çetin, Public Prosecutor of Ankara Regional Court of Justice, made a presentation on investigating and presecuting environmental crimes in Türkiye.
The final session of the conference was held in the Aula Bunker in Palermo Courthouse with the participation of the Italian President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, Italian Minister of Interior Luciana Lamorgese, Italian Minister of Justice Marta Cartabia and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić.
During the conference, Turkish delegation had the chance to exchange opinions with countries such as Azerbaijan, Algeria, Scotland, Italy, Libya, Portugal and Tunisia, and organizations such as the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors and the International Association of Prosecutors.
