PACA to act as anti-corruption think-tank: NAB chairman

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal has said the NAB has established its own state-of-the-art Pakistan Anti-Corruption Academy (PACA) and will act as an anti-corruption think-tank to empower professionals for the future white collar crimes challenges.

“It will provide a new, holistic approach to anti-corruption education and research and will provide technical support to a wide variety of stakeholders,” he said while chairing a meeting to review the performance of the Training and Research Division of the NAB at the NAB Headquarters. He said the Pakistan Anti-Corruption Academy (PACA) has been mandated with 5 core functions including training and capacity building of NAB officers and others in the field of financial crimes investigation, forensic examination and prosecution; carrying out research and reformation projects to highlight system weakness and propose improvement based on need assessment, system analysis research and latest good practices in the field of financial crimes and prevention of corruption reforms for good governance, training and research in collaboration with international and national Institutes, forensic examination development and curriculum development and accreditation of investigators in field of financial crimes and anti-corruption.

He appreciated the performance of the Training and Research Division and said the establishment of the Pakistan Anti-Corruption Academy is a milestone in the history of the NAB. He said the performance objectives of training programmes will be continuously evaluated so as to form a basis for subsequent review and improvements in future training needs.

The NAB chairman said the Forensic Science Lab has been established at the NAB Rawalpindi, which has the capacity to undertake examination of forensic material, render expert opinion about the examination of forensic material conducted by it, operate and maintain scientific instruments for examination of forensic material, propose advancement in forensic techniques and suggest procurement of suitable scientific instruments for examination of forensic material, recommend the procedure for the collection, preservation and handling of forensic material, seek clarification from the person involved in the collection or handling of forensic material in the prescribed manner, subject to nature of the case.

He said the forensic examination facility is vital to every organization fighting white-collar crime, therefore, the PACA will offer intensive forensic training programmes to NAB investigation officers and others along with practical assistance in collaboration with other domestic and foreign forensic practitioners to enhance their expertise in analysis of latent fingerprints, computer forensic and audio-visual evidence, questioned documents and digital evidence analysis according to internationally established competence standards.

He said that as an integral part of its functional mandate, the PACA will focus on forensic examination as per best practices and quality assurance measures. To achieve its objective, the PACA will coordinate with all stakeholders to deliver advanced courses of forensic science. “To facilitate investigators, the PACA shall arrange video lectures relating to digital document examination and engineering projects materials,” he said.

He said the NAB attaches great importance to human resource development and accordingly, the Pakistan Anti-Corruption Academy was established, which would act as a hub of disseminating and practicing the knowledge in the field of anti-corruption worldwide. He said the Pakistan Anti-Corruption Academy will strive to develop practice of integrity and accountability. During the meeting, the DG Training and Research informed that the NAB always accords high priority to capacity building of its investigation officers and prosecutors on a regular basis on modern lines as training is a continuous process which is an effective tool for improvement and maintaining the quality of investigation officers and prosecutors.