The IAP Special Achievement Award

The Special Achievement Award is given to a prosecutor, whether a member of the IAP or not, who has demonstrated special dedication in the pursuit of his/her professional responsibilities, or who has discharged his/her professional responsibilities in the face of special hardship or adversity or under other circumstances which deserve special recognition.

The IAP Special Achievement Award Recipients

2024: Presented during the 29th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the IAP in Baku, Azerbaijan

  • Chang, Shih-Chia, Prosecutor of Taichung District Prosecutors Office. In recognition of this dedication to fighting international fraud and organised crime. (full citation)
  • The R. v Coban Prosecution Team of the British Columbia Crown Counsel Association. In recognition of the extremely complex prosecution of Mr. Coban's case, as well as the denunciation that must be made of such offences. (full citation)
  • The Curió Massacre Prosecution Team in Fortaleza, Brazil. In recognition of their determination and courage in upholding the rule of law. (full citation)


2023: Presented during the 28th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the IAP in London, United Kingdom

  • The Prosecution team in the George Floyd Case, United States of America. In recognition of the complexity of the case and its international and historical significance.  (full citation)
  • Ms. Lilian Akinyi Okumu Obuo, Chief of Staff for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Kenya. In recognition of all her efforts leading to better outcomes for the Kenyan prosecution service.  (full citation)
  • Mr. John Pallas, Assistant Attorney General for the Michigan Department of the Attorney-General, United States of America. In recognition of his outstanding career achievements and his dedication to the ideals of fairness.  (full citation)


2022: Presented during the 27th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the IAP in Tbilisi, Georgia

  • Mr. Sean Moody from the CPS England and Wales, in recognition of the important disruption of money laundering networks, for using a novel approach to deal with an issue of serious criminality, and for his determination in arriving at a result when the usual prosecutor's tools were unavailable  (full citation)

  • The Attorney General of Indonesia, Prof. Dr. ST. Burhanuddin, in recognition of the creation of a restorative justice program (full citation).

​2021: Presented during the 26th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the IAP in St. Petersburg, Russian Federaton

  • David Michael Go from the Philippines, in recognition of his work related to the investigation and prosecution of crimes involving the abuse of children, particularly online exploitation (full citation).
  • The Office of the Federal Prosecutor of Belgium, in recognition of the Office of the Federal Prosecutor of Belgium's succesful genoicide prosecution under Belgium's universal jurisdiction law (full citation).
  • Daniel Strong from the United States of America, in recognition of his work in the largest human smuggling case in his state's history (full citation).
  • Money Laundering Team from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in recognition of the Money Laundering Team's work in improving the recovery of the proceeds of money laundering, and their work on improving the skillset of prosecutors in this important area of law (full citation).

2019: Presented during the 24th Annual Conference and General Meeting of IAP in Buenos Aires, Argentina

  • Olga Castellon Miranda from the United States for her lasting contribution to the justice system in Puerto Rico, including the setting up of a system in respect of Medicaid fraud, as well as her community work with the elderly during the recent hurricanes in September 2017 (full citation).

  • Andrii Perov and Roman Symkiv of the Ukraine's Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), for their pioneering work in the field of high-profile corruption cases in the Ukraine in extraordinary and very difficult circumstances and cooperating timely and professionally with foreign counterparts (full citation).

2018: Presented during the 23rd Annual Conference and General Meeting of IAP in Johannesburg, South Africa

  • Car Wash Task Force (Oleracea Lava Jato) from Brazil. This special recognition is deserved by a group of 47 Brazilian prosecutors from the so-called Carwash Task Force strengthened the Brazilian Rule of Law. Through their dedication and hard work, they became an international example for anti-corruption fights all over the world. Recovering the hope that justice will be done and that the rule of law must be respected by everyone (full citation).

2017: Presented during the 22nd Annual Conference and General Meeting of IAP in Beijing, People's Republic of China.

  • Dr. Marco de Paolis, The Military Prosecutor General of Rome. In recognition of his ardent work done in the field of prosecution of nazi war criminals in Italy (full citation)

  • The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. In recognition of 24 years successful investigation and prosecuton of many of the worst atrocities that occured during the armed conflicts marking the violent disintegraton of Yugoslavia in the 1990's (full citation)

2016: Presented during the 21th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the IAP in Dublin, Ireland.

  • The Anti-Terrorist section of the office of the prosecutors in Paris / the Paris Prosecution Team, In recognition of the courage, tenacity and dedication of the team, under the direction of François Molins, Chief Prosecutor, and in particular Véronique Degermann, Deputy Chief Prosecutor and Camille Hennetier, Head of the Anti-Terrorist Section. Who, since 2015 have prosecuted several terrorist attacks which left 238 dead and over  850 wounded. The action by the anti-terrorist team, who led the investigations, enabled the arrest of most members of the terrorist rings involved in the attacks and prevented, through the dismantling of dozens of jihadist networks, a significant number of future attacks. Their achievements underline the leading role of the prosecution service in the fight against crime and has raised the public profile of the Prosecutor of Paris and his team as leaders in the fight against terrorism.

2014: Presented during the 19th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the IAP in Dubai, UAE.

  • The Prosecution Team of the Boeremag Case, composed by the advocates Mr. Paul Fick SC, Mr. Dries van Rensburg, Mr. Pieter Luyt and Ms. Phyllis Vorster. The Boeremag Prosecution Team investigated and prosecuted 24 accused standing trial on multiple charges inclulding High Treason, sabotage, murders, terrorism and other serious crimes which were perpetrated aiming to undermine the Democracy and the Rule of Law.

  • The Transitional Justice Working Group (TJ/WG) and Senior Federal Prosecutor Raquel Dodge. The TJ/WG was created by the Office of the Federal Prosecutors in the State of Rio de Janeiro in ordr to investigate and prosecute violations of human rights that were perpetrated during the military dictatorship in Brazil (1964/1985). The TJ/WG is composed by federal prosecutors Antonio do Passo Cabral, Sergio Gardengui Suiama, Ana Claudia de Sales Alencar, Tatiana Polio Flores, Eduardo El-Hage, Eduardo Santos de Oliveira, Luiz Fernando Voss Chagas Lessa and Vanessa Sequezzi. The work carried out by these prosecutors has complemented the efforts developed by Senior Federal Prosecutor Raquel Dodge.

2013: Presented during the 18th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the IAP in Moscow, Russian Federation.

  • The Russian West Baikal Interregional Environmental Prosecutors Office

  • The Office of the Prosecutor of International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, represented by Prosecutor Hassan B. Jallow.

  • The Office of the Attorney General of Republic of Brazil, represented by the Attorney General Roberto Gurgel.

2012: Presented during the 17th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the IAP in Bangkok, Thailand

  • HRH, Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol, in recognition of her Royal Highness's contribution as a champion of Human Rights and particularly Womans Rights in Thailand, Especially in the context of violence against women in which regard she can be considered a role model. Her election as Chair of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice was an important signal about the central position of the prosecutor in the assertion of the Rule of Law.

  • Gerrie Nell, for his fierce pursuit of the vision of the National Prosecution Authority of South Africa's ideals to achieve justice in society, so that all can live in freedom and security, and guided by theConstitution his unending determination to ensure justice for the victimes of crime by prosecuting without fear, favour and prejudice that became apparent when he took the lead role in the prosecution o fthe previous National Commissioner of Police for South Africa, Jacob Sello Selebi. His conviction of charges of corruptiuon and sentence of 15 years imprisonment was largely due to Gerrie's committment to the principles of prosecutorial independence and integrity which he held to despite repeated obstacles over a period of more than 3 years.

  • Allan Dahl, in recognition of his work in Afghanistan where he has been working since 2009 in very difficult and dangerous circumstances when his life is often at risk and has won the respect  of both national and international personnel. He has worked tireless and enthusiastically to develop a resilient and effective Afghani justice system and throughour has remained passionate about his work and his vision for Afghanistan and its people.

  • The Office of the Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, for having attained a number of successful convictions which significantly contributed to the development of international jurisprudence and for having won a notable achievement in respect of the conviction of Charles Taylor, the first judgement agains a former Head of Stat in an internationalised jurisdiction since the Second World War, which was attained by the skilful handling of significant challenges.

  • The Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, in recognition of its progress towards achieving a central position in the removal of impunity for war criminals and those responsible for crimes against humanity and also for having overcome a number of challenges in order to obtain a conviction agains Thomas Lubanga Dyilo for the war crime of conscripting and enlisting children under the gang of 15 and using them to participate actively in hostilities from 2002 - 2003.

2011: Presented during the 16th Annual Confference and General Meeting of the IAP in Seoul, South Korea

  • Dame Elish Angiolini QC, former Lord Advocate for Scotland. In recognition of her achievements in the field of criminal justice both nationally in Scotland and internationally. In special recognition of her unique achievements as Solicitor General and Lord Advocate in Scotland from 2001 - 2011 durin which she demonstrated a commitment to independence and impartiality and a dedication to the pro motion of equality and diversity and introduced improvements in the quality of prosecution and the treatment of victims.

2010: Presented during the 15th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the IAP in The Hague, The Netherlands

  • The Crown Prosecution Service [England and Wales] – Counter Terrorism Division for being an exemplar for the type of complex and sensitive work which it handles endeavouring to bring those who engage in terrorist activities to justice through trials of the highest standard, while constantly striving to improve its work without forgetting its duty to share its successes with the public it aims to protect

2009: Presented during the 14th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the IAP in Kiev, Ukraine

  • Josaia Naigulevu, former Director of Public Prosecutions for Fiji for upholding the principle of integrity and independence in the face of unwarranted pressure from an unlawful ruling regime.

  • Ronald Bei Talasasa, Director of Public Prosecutions for the Solomon Islands in recognition of the exceptional hardships he has faced in the Solomon Islands especially during the time of the Tension and his dogged determination to continue to act in accordance with principle, even in the face of great personal danger.

2008: Presented during the 13th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Association of Prosecutors in Singapore.

Advocate Vusumzi Pikoli, National Dir.of Public Prosecutions for South Africa.

Advocate Pikoli’s consistent defence of the principles of independence, integrity and impartiality of the Prosecution, culminating in his resistance to attempts to make him change his mind about the prosecution of a high profile individual for corruption, was deserving of recognition by the IAP.

2007: Presented during the 12th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Association of Prosecutors in Hong Kong.

Lesotho Prosecutors

For prosecuting both bribers and bribees from all over the world on charges of corruption involving the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, Africa's largest water transfer and hydropower project.

See full article in IAP Newsletter  no. 39 (page 11)