Training For Dozens Of Judges... Joint Work Between UNESCO And The Iraqi Judiciary To Promote Freedom Of Expression

Baghdad / NINA / - The Information and Communications Sector at UNESCO Iraq has completed two training courses for judges of the appellate regions from various governorates of Iraq, as part of the Breaking the Silence project to enhance government accountability and judicial procedures to protect journalists and end impunity for the killers of journalists, funded by the Dutch Embassy in Iraq.

60 male and female judges and members of public prosecution offices in the governorates participated in the training on May 26-27, 2023, preceded by a training session for thirty male and female judges.

These exercises discussed in depth the establishment of a judiciary specialized in freedom of expression and the enhancement of the experience of publishing and media courts, as well as a discussion of the mechanism for introducing artificial intelligence subjects into the curricula of Iraqi judicial institutes and schools.

This effort comes within the mechanism of joint cooperation between the judicial authority in Iraq and the UNESCO Iraq office to establish a mutual culture between the judicial cadres on one hand, and the press and media community on the other hand, in a way that supports issues of safety of journalists and the flexibility of dealing with media and journalistic discourse and what is published in the Iraqi digital space with taking into account adherence to the standards of freedom of expression and the limits of publishing and media that are constitutionally guaranteed and set globally.

In view of the weakness in the organization of the national information and communications sector, after more than 20 years of change and what was imposed by the variables of the Iraqi reality, the Iraqi judiciary seeks to play the role of supervising the processes of reorganizing this important and vital sector and ensuring the course of justice by opening the doors of cooperation with digital and media platforms and global Internet platforms through UNESCO, with an attempt to contribute to the completion of the legislative formulations of important laws dealing with these issues.

These courses covered those vital and sensitive titles, and also gave the participants a knowledgeable insight into the contents of informatics and improving the digital literacy of members and judges of Iraqi courts as it pertains to their work and the cases presented to them.

The UNESCO is concerned with issues of freedom of expression, protection of journalists, and ensuring an end to impunity for perpetrators, and it is concerned with media and information literacy policies and improving digital literacy./ End