My first project at the UN was handed to me as I walked through the door. My supervisor is a vivacious Canadian prosecutor that spent the previous decade rebuilding court systems in war torn Africa, and after a quick introduction came the task: “Research and write about different problems in police and prosecutor cooperation during the investigation phase, make sure you cover common and civil law systems. I’m presenting this to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (the OSCE) on Thursday.” Welcome to the UN.
Having at best a wikepedian knowledge of civil law systems, I got to work. We all know what a common law criminal case looks like: "In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups–the police who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories." On the other hand, in a civil law system and a French accent: “In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two or three groups depending on the country, and they all work together in some capacity–the police that take orders from the prosecutor and the judge that in reality controls the whole investigation and trial. These are their stories.” While the civil system doesn’t allow for a clean, linear story arc like the common law system, the civil system is how most of the world works.
Investigations, professional relationships and even trials look different under the civil system. The police are not an independent entity, but they usually work at the behest of the prosecutor. The judges, however, own the show from investigation till sentencing. Trials in a civil system are not a chance for each side to make their case and present their witnesses. Since the judge is involved with the investigation as well, he knows the facts and evidence before the trial even happens. The trial is more of a formality.
No matter what the legal system, however, our presentation wanted to convey that criminal law reform (or any legal reform for that matter) needs to be treated holistically. If you are looking to increase police and prosecution cooperation, but you don’t deal with corruption first, then all you have done is streamlined graft and done little for the actual criminal law system. So, like treating a sick person, all parts of the criminal system need to be viewed as interconnected and treated as such.
After putting together this work for my boss, I went to the OSCE delegation conference at the Hofburg Palace to witness my research in action. Now granted, I imagine my supervisor had a good idea of what she was going to say before she ever got my five page write up; however, I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t a little bit excited when she would make a point that mirrored my recommendations.
That being said, I was in awe of this meeting, partially for its novelty. If there is such a thing as being drunk on foreign policy, I was not safe to drive.
Let’s start with the venue: the Hofburg. It’s the building that epitomized the Hapsburg Empire and central European dominance. Metternich formulated his plan for the Congress of Vienna here (yes, negotiations were held at the SchönBrunn Palace, but Metternich worked out of the Hofburg). It was the home of Field Marshall Radetzky, who successfully led Austria against Napoleon’s forces. And from the Hofburg balcony overseeing Heldenplatz, an enthusiastic Austrian people were welcomed to a 1000 year German Reich by local artist Adolf Hitler. Like everywhere in Vienna, this place has history in droves, which only adds to the gravitas of a meeting that if held at the Tucson Holiday Inn would likely be pretty boring.
The room itself is a simple, large hall with one bay of 20 foot tall windows. In the middle stood an oblong table. On the far side were the flags of all fifty-six member states. Six glassed translation booths were engraved into the opposing wall with only the Russian booth manned.
The table itself had placards for the delegates. Kitty corner from me sat Kyrgyzstan who was next to Italy, opposing them was the Vatican hanging out with Serbia. Directly across from me was Greece. The delegate, who looked like a young Slobodan Milosevic, leaned back in his chair and read the paper as the presentations on police reform occurred. I can only imagine the joy he feels on a daily basis knowing he has nothing to do with Greece’s financial policy.
Most of the delegation sat in alphabetical order, except the power brokers—UK, US, Russia—were given prominent end positions at the table. On account of this seating chart, Armenia, Austria and Azerbaijan sat in one corner. Austria’s delegate didn’t attend and so the Armenian and the Azeri delegates spent the afternoon starring in opposite directions and texting on their Blackberries. It was akin to two high school girls wanting to date the same boy but refusing to concede their desires or to talk about a solution. Awkward.
After the presentations, various delegates took their time to thank the OSCE for their money and expertise. Most of the delegates speaking were from the post-Soviet milieu and so I got to wear headphones to listen to the needlessly proper, British English translation. This gave me an excitement usually relegated to the pages of The Economist. But there I was, a fly on the wall.
Ultimately, the conference was a place to share ideas about a small aspect of legal system reform. It wasn’t an occasion that will be remembered in the history books like so many other events that had happened at the Hofburg. However, I had a chance to learn about the world’s more popular legal system and at the same time experience the OSCE first hand. Welcome to the UN.
Having at best a wikepedian knowledge of civil law systems, I got to work. We all know what a common law criminal case looks like: "In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups–the police who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories." On the other hand, in a civil law system and a French accent: “In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two or three groups depending on the country, and they all work together in some capacity–the police that take orders from the prosecutor and the judge that in reality controls the whole investigation and trial. These are their stories.” While the civil system doesn’t allow for a clean, linear story arc like the common law system, the civil system is how most of the world works.
Investigations, professional relationships and even trials look different under the civil system. The police are not an independent entity, but they usually work at the behest of the prosecutor. The judges, however, own the show from investigation till sentencing. Trials in a civil system are not a chance for each side to make their case and present their witnesses. Since the judge is involved with the investigation as well, he knows the facts and evidence before the trial even happens. The trial is more of a formality.
No matter what the legal system, however, our presentation wanted to convey that criminal law reform (or any legal reform for that matter) needs to be treated holistically. If you are looking to increase police and prosecution cooperation, but you don’t deal with corruption first, then all you have done is streamlined graft and done little for the actual criminal law system. So, like treating a sick person, all parts of the criminal system need to be viewed as interconnected and treated as such.
After putting together this work for my boss, I went to the OSCE delegation conference at the Hofburg Palace to witness my research in action. Now granted, I imagine my supervisor had a good idea of what she was going to say before she ever got my five page write up; however, I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t a little bit excited when she would make a point that mirrored my recommendations.
That being said, I was in awe of this meeting, partially for its novelty. If there is such a thing as being drunk on foreign policy, I was not safe to drive.
Let’s start with the venue: the Hofburg. It’s the building that epitomized the Hapsburg Empire and central European dominance. Metternich formulated his plan for the Congress of Vienna here (yes, negotiations were held at the SchönBrunn Palace, but Metternich worked out of the Hofburg). It was the home of Field Marshall Radetzky, who successfully led Austria against Napoleon’s forces. And from the Hofburg balcony overseeing Heldenplatz, an enthusiastic Austrian people were welcomed to a 1000 year German Reich by local artist Adolf Hitler. Like everywhere in Vienna, this place has history in droves, which only adds to the gravitas of a meeting that if held at the Tucson Holiday Inn would likely be pretty boring.
The room itself is a simple, large hall with one bay of 20 foot tall windows. In the middle stood an oblong table. On the far side were the flags of all fifty-six member states. Six glassed translation booths were engraved into the opposing wall with only the Russian booth manned.
The table itself had placards for the delegates. Kitty corner from me sat Kyrgyzstan who was next to Italy, opposing them was the Vatican hanging out with Serbia. Directly across from me was Greece. The delegate, who looked like a young Slobodan Milosevic, leaned back in his chair and read the paper as the presentations on police reform occurred. I can only imagine the joy he feels on a daily basis knowing he has nothing to do with Greece’s financial policy.
Most of the delegation sat in alphabetical order, except the power brokers—UK, US, Russia—were given prominent end positions at the table. On account of this seating chart, Armenia, Austria and Azerbaijan sat in one corner. Austria’s delegate didn’t attend and so the Armenian and the Azeri delegates spent the afternoon starring in opposite directions and texting on their Blackberries. It was akin to two high school girls wanting to date the same boy but refusing to concede their desires or to talk about a solution. Awkward.
After the presentations, various delegates took their time to thank the OSCE for their money and expertise. Most of the delegates speaking were from the post-Soviet milieu and so I got to wear headphones to listen to the needlessly proper, British English translation. This gave me an excitement usually relegated to the pages of The Economist. But there I was, a fly on the wall.
Ultimately, the conference was a place to share ideas about a small aspect of legal system reform. It wasn’t an occasion that will be remembered in the history books like so many other events that had happened at the Hofburg. However, I had a chance to learn about the world’s more popular legal system and at the same time experience the OSCE first hand. Welcome to the UN.
