CapacityStrengthening

Capacity strengthening is at the core of the Nuremberg Academy’s mandate. The Nuremberg Academy´s capacity strengthening programmes empower individuals and institutions confronting core international crimes. Through its capacity strengthening activities, the Academy aims to equip practitioners with the specific skills and tools necessary to effectively deal with international crimes. 

We develop specifically tailored programmes that are demand-driven and needs-based. As a result, the Academy offers a wide gamut of customised trainings and courses focused on theory and practice of international criminal law. Conducted in English, French and German, our programmes take place in Nuremberg and around the world, including in conflict and post-conflict regions.

The Academy´s two flagship programmes address the next generation of legal practitioners: the Nuremberg Moot Court and the Nuremberg Summer Academy for Young Professionals are held annually at our premises in the Nuremberg Palace of Justice. 

Academy staff are regularly invited to lecture on international criminal law at various academic institutions. Throughout the year, we also routinely host international student groups, visiting professionals and German legal trainees for study visits and seminars in Nuremberg. 

The Academy conducts capacity strengthening for legal practitioners such as lawyers, prosecutors, defence counsel and judges. Trainings are also provided to other target groups such as military and investigative agencies. We also offer customised courses for non-legal professionals, including journalists and representatives of civil society with a focus on international criminal law, journalism and trial reporting.

The investigation and prosecution of international crimes presupposes political will and capacity, that is requisite resources and knowledge. International courts alone cannot address all cases. Pioneering domestic prosecutions and universal jurisdiction proceedings are challenging legacies of repression in several countries. In line with the Academy’s mandate, it is thus essential to build capacity and strengthen international, hybrid and domestic institutions as they fulfil their historic mandates and work towards accountability and justice.

We bring together the expertise of both leading scholars and practitioners with extensive experience in international and domestic jurisdictions. Our activities focus on sharing experiences and developed practices.

The Academy has a strong network of experts and partner organisations. When creating customised programmes, we build on the local expertise and credibility of our local and international partners. Our programmes are adapted to the unique requirements of individual contexts and deliberately created to be inclusive and dialogue-based taking into account local and cultural sensitivities. We work closely with United Nations mandated courts and agencies as well as national judiciaries and local non-governmental organisations.

In particular, we have regularly conducted joint trainings with the European Judicial Training Network and Genocide Network Secretariat, Asser Institute and Cassese Initiative, United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, Kosovo Specialist Chambers, United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/Isil, Wayamo Foundation, Club des Amis du Congo and Observatoire Ivoirien des Droits de l’Homme and other organisations.