Manama, Oct. 15 (BNA): Dr. Ali bin Fadhl Al Buainain, Attorney-General, chaired the 18th meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council Attorneys General. The meeting was attended by Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, Assistant Secretary-General for Legislative and Legal Affairs at the GCC General Secretariat.
Dr. Al Buainain commended the constructive cooperation among GCC states across all domains and the strong coordination between their various bodies. He noted that public prosecution offices benefited greatly from meetings of the Attorneys General, which provided opportunities to exchange views and expertise and work towards a unified system in line with the visions and directives of the GCC leaders, to strengthen the bonds between their countries.
The Attorney General highlighted the importance of completing the international judicial cooperation framework to combat crime, pursue offenders and seize the tools and proceeds of crime, as well as address its consequences. He also emphasised the need to advance this framework by implementing a decision taken at the 17th meeting to study the feasibility of establishing a GCC mechanism for forming joint investigation teams, in line with the national laws of member states. This would support efforts to combat organised crime and serious offences that threaten states’ resources, material and economic assets, vital interests and the safety of their communities.
On modernising and developing the work of public prosecution offices, the Attorney General underlined the importance of using artificial intelligence in their work. He highlighted proposals put forward by the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Public Prosecution, including the AI Ethics Charter adopted by the Attorneys General at their 15th meeting, followed by a draft set of rules governing the use of AI in GCC public prosecution offices.
The draft rules cover the framework governing AI systems, technical controls on their use, the features needed to support public prosecution work, safeguards and decision-making methods, and human oversight and evaluation. They also set out safeguards for those affected by AI-generated outcomes, based on principles that ensure equality and impartiality, alongside other technical requirements aimed at supporting fair judicial decisions.
Dr. Al Buainain also emphasised the need to provide public prosecution members and their supporting staff with specialised training and advanced professional development, in line with best practices and the latest developments. He highlighted the importance of advanced, highly specialised training courses and cooperation with judicial and legal centres and academic institutions, both within and outside GCC states.
The Attorneys General discussed areas of joint cooperation, including the proposed GCC mechanism for forming joint investigation teams, unified cooperation models, updates to the unified model regulations for inspecting the work of public prosecution members, unified judicial instructions, and cooperation with legal and judicial institutes and centres in GCC states to organise training programmes. They also approved Bahrain’s Public Prosecution’s draft rules governing the use of AI in public prosecution work.
The Attorneys General also reviewed the experiences of public prosecution and public prosecution authorities as part of efforts to share successful practices and exchange expertise. The Kingdom’s Public Prosecution presented its experience in combating human trafficking, focusing on enforcing justice and protecting victims.
Advocate General Abdullah Essa Al Doseri, Head of the International Cooperation and Human Rights Office at the Public Prosecution, was honoured after receiving this year’s Hamid Al Othman Award, presented by the Attorneys General to outstanding members.
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