The Second Regional Conference on Justice, which started here yesterday, has proposed the setting up of a mechanism to be based in Doha to increase inter-Arab cooperation in fighting oranised crimes and terrorist activities. The conference was jointly organised by Qatar’s Public Prosecution and the French Ministry of Justice. The conference aims at setting up a pan-Arab judicial cooperation organization along the lines of Europe’s “Eruojust”. An agreement was also reached at the conference to appoint a French liaison judge in Qatar and a Qatari liaison judge in France. The next conference will be held in 2009 in Paris. In an address to the opening session, the French Minister of Justice Rachida Dati said sharing information was essential for European-Arab judicial cooperation, noting that joint investigation teams have managed to track down and dismantle several drug-trafficking networks operating across the Mediterranean. The conference also announced the plan to set up a judicial school in Doha to provide training to judges from all over the Arab world, Attorney General Dr Ali bin Feteis Al Merri said. The opening ceremony was attended by the Heir Apparent H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and 15 Ministers of Justice and 22 Attorneys General or public prosecutors from various Arab countries as well as representatives of Arab and regional organizations, including the Arab League, the GCC, the UNDP, the UN Office on Drug and Crime and Eurojust. Addressing the opening ceremony, Al Merri hailed the steps taken by the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani in introducing a permanent constitution providing for the separation of authorities to ensure the independence of the judiciary. The Qatari constitution, he said, separates the judiciary, represented by the Supreme Council of the Judiciary and the Public Prosecution, from the executive authority to ensure its full independence and fairness. Rachida said that the whole world faced the threat of terrorism and organised crimes and no nation can now fight cross-border crimes alone. Replying to a question on the importance of appointing liaison judges in France and Qatar, she said this would be a great help and increase cooperation between the two countries. “We have already tried such systems with some other countries and it will allow us to follow up the commitments made today and see the results after one year of works.” Responding to a question on prisoners being detained in the Guantanamo Bay without any charges, Al Merri said this issue was not raised in the conference. The Peninsula

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