Opening the session, Jan Austad, Specialist Director at the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security, delivered a powerful opening address reaffirming Norway’s long-standing diplomatic and financial support for global justice reform.
Austad highlighted that non-coercive interviewing is not merely an operational police technique, but a fundamental pillar of democratic statecraft, the rule of law, and public trust in state institutions. Drawing on Norway’s own national reform journey—from addressing past wrongful convictions to establishing the science-based KREATIV policing model—he emphasized how ethical, rapport-based methods proved their operational value even under extreme pressure.
Underscoring Norway's continued commitment to global partnerships and UN tools—including the Méndez Principles on Effective Interviewing and Information Gathering, the UN Manual on Investigative Interviewing, and the UNODC Global eLearning Programme—Austad praised the pioneering leadership of partner institutions in Thailand, Brazil and Ukraine.
Bridging Science, Human Rights, and Operational Reality
The event highlighted how international frameworks—such as the Méndez Principles (2021), the UN Manual on Investigative Interviewing (2024), and the UNODC Global eLearning Programme—are transforming interviewing from theoretical human rights commitments into everyday policing tools.
In her online address, NCHR Senior Adviser Susanne H. Flølo emphasized that moving away from confession-driven interrogation is essential for preventing wrongful convictions, tunnel vision, and cognitive bias. She underscored that rapport-based, ethical interviewing methods are not only more humane, but also empirically proven to yield higher volumes of actionable, high-quality intelligence.
Pioneering Leadership from the Global South
The panel, moderated by Anna Guidice, Accelerating Justice Team Leader, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Section, UNODC, showcased regional implementation breakthroughs, featuring contributions from public prosecutors and law enforcement leaders in Thailand and Brazil represented by Santanee Ditsayabut, Senior Expert Public Prosecutor, Office of the Attorney General of Thailand, and Kawin Maurizio Marzani, Project Assistant, Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ), Alcino Sousa, Special Class Police Chief (Delegado), Acre State Civil Police, Brazil, and PhD. Denis Lino, Research and Supervision Coordsinator, CogJus, Atitus University, Brazil. These national experiences demonstrated how implementing rapport-based interviewing contributes to professionalization and builds public trust. The event was concluded by Laura Blanco, Legal Adviser, Convention Against Torture Initiative (CTI).
Looking Ahead: Institutionalization
Highlighting priorities for the next five years, NCHR stressed the need for systemic training from police academies to local police stations, mandatory audio and video recording of interviews, and leadership engagement across judicial oversight bodies.
When we treat police interviewing as a scientific forensic craft—built on structure, transparency, rapport, and human dignity—we secure better evidence, achieve stronger prosecutions, and build enduring public legitimacy and trust, Flølo concluded.
The Abu Dhabi Declaration was adopted on 26 September, a global framework to strengthen international criminal justice cooperation against fast-evolving crime challenges and exploitation of digital technologies. On the matter of interviewing, the declaration reads:
We endevour to.. “(c) Strengthen the timely processing and adjudication of criminal cases and address case backlogs, including those related to organized crime and corruption, by strengthening prosecutorial, law enforcement and judicial capacity; promote strong, independent, transparent, impartial, well-resourced and accountable institutions with effective anti-corruption safeguards, including through comprehensive justice system reforms, as necessary, as well as training and oversight mechanisms, and institutional cooperation and exchange of information; and encourage the use and sharing of good practices on legally grounded, evidence-based interviewing methods designed to respect procedural safeguards, obtain only voluntary statements and enable the obtaining of best evidence and the efficient use of resources;” Read the full declaration here.
The hybrid ancillary event, titled «From Principles to Practice: Advancing Investigative Interviewing Techniques to Accelerate Justice», was organized by the UNODC Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Section in close collaboration with Norway, Thailand, Brazil, the NCHR, the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ) and CogJus.
Read more about NCHR's work on investigative interviewing here.