On 11th October, Counter Wildlife Trafficking (CWT) program organised a training for eighteen lawyers who donate their time pro-bono to assist enforcement agencies in cases. The aim of the exercise was to equip the lawyers with the necessary skills and knowledge to smoothly assist the officers when requested. The three hour webinar included sessions: Introduction to Wildlife Trafficking, Introduction to Wild Life Protection Act, 1972, Procedure and Documentation and, Findings of Legal Gap Analysis. The webinar closed with a dedicated question and answer session, and a short introduction to the type of queries received on the CWT Helpline and the way forward.
Shubhra Sotie, Law Officer, introduced the participants to the findings of the legal gap analysis that WCS-India has been conducting
Ms. Shivani Swani, Legal Officer, explaining to the participants definitions under WLPA
Ms. Pradipty Bhardwaj, Lead Legal Trainer, walked the participants through the preparation
required for the Enforcement Agencies to conduct a lawful search and subsequent seizure