27th August 2018 The Minister for Justice Hon. Sione Vuna Fa’otusia opened a four-day advanced training course on cybercrime and electronic evidence for judicial officers of the Pacific Region this morning at the Tanoa International Hotel.
Hosted by the Kingdom of Tonga through the Ministry of Justice and the GLACY+ Project of the Council of Europe, the training will focus on supporting the integration of the topics of cybercrime and electronic evidence into the curricula of judicial training institutions in Tonga. It will also encourage the preparation of broader judicial training strategies on these issues and would assist the participants in fulfilling their roles effectively.
Hon. Fa’otusia said cybercrime is one of the most prevalent and most popular rising crimes committed around the world today.
“In a rapidly advancing world, where the needs of communication and access to information are more than necessary elements, the internet has become one of the solutions. Millions of people around the world use computer devices. These technologies has made life more convenient for us. While the internet has made things easier for us, unfortunately it has also easily enabled criminals to carry out their wicked crimes.”
He told the participants that there is a need to train judges, magistrates in this area of law and to ensure that it will be an on-going education process.
“We also need to strengthen the capacity of our judiciary so they could deliver their duties effectively while upholding their overarching role of ensuring that all basic human rights are maintained.”
Hon Fa’otusia hopes that the training would “initiate and encourage our friends in the Pacific Region to also consider acceding to the Convention” so that they may benefit from the training and technical assistance provided under this regime against cybercrime.
Participants include judges, prosecutors and judicial officers from Samoa, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga and Pacific countries who are part of the PILON Network.
ENDS
Issued by the: Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications