Orpe Human Rights Advocates proposes a comprehensive prosecutorial capacity-building program designed to strengthen ethical prosecution, accountability, and compliance with constitutional and international fair-trial standards. The project focuses on ethical charging decisions, disclosure obligations, restraint of state power, and adversarial litigation skills, drawing on U.S.-modeled prosecutorial ethics and trial practice adapted to local legal systems.

The program addresses systemic prosecutorial failures that contribute to wrongful convictions, prolonged pretrial detention, unequal access to justice, and erosion of public trust. Through a structured curriculum, practical litigation laboratories, and accountability tools, OHRA will equip prosecutors to act as ministers of justice rather than mere advocates for conviction, consistent with constitutional guarantees and international human rights law.

In many justice systems—particularly those operating under autocratic pressure or weak rule-of-law traditions—prosecutors often function as extensions of executive power rather than independent guardians of justice. Common challenges include:

• Failure to disclose exculpatory or mitigating evidence

• Overcharging and coercive plea practices

• Politically motivated prosecutions

• Weak ethical oversight and accountability mechanisms

• Limited adversarial litigation competence

• Noncompliance with constitutional and international fair-trial standards

These deficiencies undermine due process, contribute to arbitrary detention, and violate obligations under instruments such as the ICCPR, regional human rights treaties, and domestic constitutions. Prosecutorial reform is therefore a high-impact leverage point for restoring fair trial guarantees and public confidence in justice institutions.

Overall Goal

To strengthen prosecutorial ethics, accountability, and fair-trial compliance by equipping prosecutors with doctrinal, ethical, and adversarial litigation competencies consistent with constitutional and international standards.

Specific Objectives

1. Enhance Prosecutorial Ethics and Accountability

   • Institutionalize ethical charging standards and disclosure duties.

   • Promote prosecutorial restraint and independence from political influence.

2. Strengthen Fair-Trial Compliance

   • Align prosecutorial conduct with constitutional guarantees and international human rights law.

   • Reduce violations related to disclosure, detention, and abuse of process.

3. Build Adversarial Litigation Capacity

   • Train prosecutors in U.S.-modeled adversarial litigation skills adapted to local systems.

   • Improve courtroom professionalism and evidentiary rigor.

4. Institutionalize Sustainable Training Systems

   • Develop standardized curricula, manuals, and evaluation tools for prosecutorial academies.

If prosecutors are trained to understand their ethical role as ministers of justice, are equipped with clear disclosure and charging standards, and possess strong adversarial litigation skills,
then prosecutorial misconduct, unfair trials, and abuse of state power will decrease,
because prosecutors will internalize accountability norms, comply with legal obligations, and exercise discretion consistent with human dignity and the rule of law.

This change will contribute to fairer outcomes, increased judicial integrity, and strengthened public trust in justice institutions.