Summer training program for international prosecutors opens in Henan　

A summer training program for international prosecutors opened at the Education and Training Base of the Henan Branch of the National Prosecutors College on June 29.

Twelve prosecutors from five countries — Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Mongolia, Thailand and Vietnam — gathered in Zhengzhou, capital of  Central China's Henan province, for the two-week program.

The opening ceremony was presided over by Zhang Ping, President of the Henan Branch of the National Prosecutors College.

Tian Kai, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the People's Procuratorate of Henan Province, delivered an address at the event. He noted that the program's curriculum covers topics such as an overview of China's procuratorial system, public interest litigation practices, and the application of digital technologies in prosecution.

The program combines classroom lectures with case studies, as well as visits to case management centers, historical and cultural sites, and modern enterprises, so that participants can gain as much insight as possible into China's rule-of-law development, he added.

Zhang Wei, Dean of the School of International Education at China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), delivered opening remarks. He stated that the program is the first foreign prosecutor training program jointly hosted by CUPL and the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP).

Under the guidance of the SPP's International Cooperation Bureau, Zhang said, CUPL has launched a two-year master's program and a three-year doctoral program in Criminal Procedure Law specifically for prosecutors from countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative. He encouraged the participating prosecutors to apply for the programs.

Guo Mingcong, Class II Counsel of the SPP's International Cooperation Bureau, also addressed the opening ceremony. He pointed out that China and Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Indonesia, Thailand as well as Vietnam are friendly neighbors and important cooperation partners, and that judicial and procuratorial exchanges constitute an important part of their bilateral relations.

He noted that the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan holds observer status in the Meeting Mechanism of the Prosecutors General of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and that the Prosecutor General's Office of Mongolia had previously held border exchange training with the People's Procuratorate of Inner Mongolia of China and carried out criminal judicial assistance cooperation with China's SPP last year.

Guo also highlighted the efficient bilateral criminal judicial assistance mechanism between China's SPP and the Supreme People's Procuracy of Vietnam, adding that China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand are all members of the China-ASEAN Prosecutors General Conference Mechanism.

Guo emphasized that despite differences in procuratorial systems, procuratorial organs of all participating countries share common goals of cracking down on crimes, safeguarding social stability, and upholding fairness and justice.

He added that the training program is an important initiative to implement the Belt and Road Initiative and deepen multilateral and bilateral procuratorial cooperation, and expressed hope that participating prosecutors would enhance mutual understanding and friendship and open up new opportunities for future cooperation.

Following the ceremony, Tian delivered the first lecture on the overall functions of China's procuratorial system and the procuratorial public interest litigation system.

He systematically introduced the constitutional positioning of China's procuratorates and their eight major functions, with a focus on the background, evolution and basic framework of the procuratorial public interest litigation system — an innovation in the judicial system with Chinese characteristics.

According to Tian, the statutory scope of procuratorial public interest litigation has now expanded to 15 areas, including ecological environment protection, food and drug safety, protection of State-owned assets, personal information protection and cultural relics protection, and legislation on procuratorial public interest litigation is under way.

Over the following two weeks, experts and professors from CUPL's School of Criminal Justice and frontline procuratorial specialists will give lectures and hold discussions with participants — systematically introducing the operational mechanisms and case-handling procedures of China's procuratorial system. Field visits and on-site teaching will also be arranged at institutions including the People's Procuratorate of Henan Province.

Co-hosted by China's SPP and CUPL, and organized by the People's Procuratorate of Henan Province and the Henan Branch of the National Prosecutors College, the program aims to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning in the field of prosecution among Belt and Road countries and to deepen practical international judicial cooperation.