The criminal justice system in the Philippines experiences poor coordination among agencies, particularly police and prosecutors. Currently, there is a shortage of prosecutors to take criminal cases to trial in the Department of Justice (DOJ), and many of those who serve on behalf of the people require support in order to perform their duties with a high level of necessary knowledge, skills and ethics. Similarly, prosecutors in the Office of the Ombudsman, who have a constitutional mandate to hold public servants accountable to combat public sector corruption through investigation and prosecution, seek to enhance their competencies to more efficiently address corruption cases.
IDLO is providing support to develop the capacity of prosecutors within both the DOJ and the Office of the Ombudsman to better handle basic criminal prosecution and corruption cases. This includes developing training of trainers modules, handbooks, other materials and courses, and a symposium, featuring international expertise on best practice. IDLO will also work to develop the capacity of prosecutors in the DOJ through training on curriculum development and post-training support, and will support the design and delivery of two types of trainings to Ombudsman prosecutors on basic and advanced trial advocacy.