Ten investigators and prosecutors of the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) participated in an one week training on handling corruption, money laundering and corporate crimes. The training took place in the meeting & training space of CILC in The Hague where different Dutch experts shared their experience and knowledge about how to investigate and prosecute corruption and money laundering cases, in particular when committed by corporations.
The request came from KPK itself, making it good a example of a tailor-made training whereby the needs and demands of the beneficiary are central to the design and implementation of such trainings. During the preparation phase, interviews and questionnaires were conducted in order to develop a program based on actual challenges and needs of the participants, including the selection of key experts. Experts came from various institutions and backgrounds, namely the Hague Court of Appeal, the Fiscal information and investigation Service (FIOD) of the Dutch Tax Service, the Ministry of Justice and Security, the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie) and the Dutch National police. A special role was designated to Criminal Law Professor Pinar Ölcer of Leiden University. On the first day of the training, March 12, she kicked-off by providing a lecture on the Dutch criminal law and procedures.
That same day, our facilitators Ms. Yuen Yen Tsai and Ms. Santy Kouwagam set the scene for the practical element of this training. This practical element focused on 1) formulating and achieving the team goal of this training and 2) further enhancing personal soft skills in order to bring the attained knowledge further within the KPK office. Soft skills such as leadership, self-motivation, communication skills, presentation skills and problem-solving, amongst others, are crucial in the successful delivery of r professional goals and objectives and go hand in hand with the so-called ‘hard knowledge’. This training aimed to provide the participants with useful tools and practice of both.
The team goal for the KPK officials was to develop technical guidelines for investigating and prosecuting money laundering and corporate crimes cases. During the week, the participants engaged in group discussions, lectures and practical exercises in order to reach this goal by the end of the training week.
Yuen Yen introduced a number of new models and approaches to guide the participants in this process, for example by using elevator pitches so that the invited expert is well aware of the knowledge question(s) and the team goal. The expert was then able to tailor his or her presentation to the needs and challenges perceived by the participants and to provide concrete input to support the participants in developing their technical guidelines. Other methods that were introduced to foster learning include rapid prototyping, and stakeholder analyses.
After only one week of training, the participants were able to present their draft guidelines to Professor Ölcer. Based on her feedback, the group will take their guidelines ‘back home’ in order to finalize them. In addition, they will also bring their enhanced soft skills in order to ensure its successful dissemination and implementation across the KPK office.
This training has shown that by creating a safe and creative learning environment and by placing the participants in the ‘drivers’ seat’ of their own training, a lot can be achieved. The training was made possible by funding of Nuffic Neso.