What
is the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance
and Training (OPDAT)
OPDAT Mission: To develop and administer technical assistance designed to enhance the
capabilities of foreign justice sector institutions and their law enforcement personnel, so they can effectively partner with
the Department of Justice in combating terrorism, trafficking in persons, organized crime, corruption, and financial crimes.
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.
Established in 1991, OPDAT draws on Department of Justice resources and expertise to strengthen foreign criminal justice sector institutions and enhance the administration of justice abroad. OPDAT supports the United States and the Department’s law enforcement objectives and priorities by preparing foreign counterparts to cooperate more fully and effectively with the United States in combating terrorism, trafficking in persons, organized crime, corruption, financial crimes, and other transnational crime. It does so by encouraging legislative and justice sector reform in countries with inadequate laws; by improving the skills of foreign prosecutors, investigators and judges; and by promoting the rule of law and regard for human rights.
In FY 2007, OPDAT had 43 RLAs in 30 countries. RLAs are experienced federal or state prosecutors stationed in a host country for at least one year where they provide full-time advice and technical assistance in establishing fair and professional justice sector institutions and practices. OPDAT also conducts discrete short and mid-term assistance programs, ranging from one week to six months, which focus on a specific aspect of criminal justice. These are implemented by Intermittent Legal Advisors (ILAs), who like the RLAs, are experienced federal or state prosecutors. In FY 2007, OPDAT conducted 466 assistance programs involving 77 countries and managed over $45 million in State Department and USAID funding.
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.
[ Top ]
|