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What
is the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance
and Training (OPDAT)
OPDAT Mission
OPDAT carries out justice sector institution building, including
technical assistance and skills development support, to enhance
foreign justice sector cooperation.
The rule of law and the rights of individuals are the cornerstones
of any free society. Crime and misuse of the public trust undermine
confidence in government and discredit free market economies.
The effective and fair administration of justice offers to the
state and its citizens the greatest protection from lawlessness
and support for basic human rights, and, when extant in foreign
countries, provides the U.S. with a stronger base of foreign
cooperation in the fight against organized crime, illegal narcotics,
and terrorism.
The Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance
and Training (OPDAT), located in the Criminal Division of the
U.S. Department of Justice, was established to help harness
the Department of Justice's resources to develop foreign justice
sector institutions and to enhance the administration of justice
abroad. OPDAT also assists foreign prosecutors and judicial
personnel by providing technical assistance and skills development
support.
As part of its growing global involvement, OPDAT helps fulfill
the Justice Department's commitment to assist states and entities
as they attempt to build and maintain, or improve viable criminal
justice institutions. Working with agencies of the U.S. Agency
for International Development (USAID) and the State Department,
OPDAT has taken the lead in efforts to develop effective criminal
codes, improve institutional structures and relationships, and
enhance the professional capabilities of prosecutors, judges,
defense attorneys, and select law enforcement officers as the
means of helping create more responsive and responsible criminal
justice systems. Currently, OPDAT is providing justice sector
development assistance in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern
Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Newly Independent
States, including the Russian Federation, and the Middle East.
OPDAT is a forum for comparative law dialogue aiding efforts
to promote international legal assistance.
OPDAT acts as host to hundreds of international visitors who
each year come to the United States to gain an appreciation
of the legal system of one of the world's oldest democracies.
Through OPDAT efforts, overseas guests are offered professional
programs in the form of specially tailored presentations and
training workshops supplemented by foreign language translation.
OPDAT serves as the Justice Department's liaison between various
private and public agencies that sponsor visits to the United
States by foreign officials who are interested in a close examination
of the United States' legal system. These visitors come from
a variety of backgrounds and interests. Some are newly-elected
cabinet members, others are judges and prosecutors studying
ways of fostering democratic institutions in their own countries.
Many international visitors receive presentations about the
U.S. criminal justice system in English, Spanish, or Russian
from OPDAT attorneys. Visitors with specific interests are given
the opportunity to meet with practitioners in more specialized
components of the Department. Meetings requested often relate
to issues of money laundering, organized crime, asset forfeiture,
narcotic and other dangerous drugs, international judicial assistance/extradition,
ethics and public corruption, juvenile justice and delinquency
protection, and civil rights. Despite differences in culture
and circumstance, many visitors say their new appreciation for
the ideas, institutions and practices of the U.S. legal system
fosters international judicial cooperation and provides insight
for development and reform efforts in their own lands.
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