A/HRC/15/33 of the Supreme Court, a deputy of the Supreme State Prosecutor, and the Head of the Protection Unit. 34. In Paraguay, Law 1562/00 establishing the Public Prosecution Service contains a specific provision on witness protection. According to article 10 of the Act, “the Public Prosecution Service shall protect persons who, by collaborating with the administration of justice, run the risk of incurring some form of injury, especially in the case of punishable acts connected with organized crime or related to abuse of authority or violations of human rights. To that end, it shall run a permanent protection programme for witnesses, victims and its own officials.” Policies and programmes on witness protection are implemented through the Witness and Victim Care Centre which runs nine facilities. 35. In Uruguay, the President of the Republic, in consultation with the Minister of the Interior, issued a decree in 2000 authorizing the implementation of a programme to protect witnesses and informants giving evidence on alleged offences. 36. In Romania, the Ministry of Administration and Interior established the National Witness Protection Office in 2002. This Office coordinates the activities of the General Inspectorate units of the Romanian Police involved in witness protection, and manages the necessary funds for developing the witness protection programme. It also maintains and implements various protection and assistance measures. 37. In Switzerland, 26 federal entities (cantons) are currently responsible for the protection of witnesses. All the cantonal codes of criminal procedure regulate witness protection. The Federal Code of Criminal Procedure (Systematic Compendium (SC) 312.0), which regulates proceedings at the level of the Confederation, also contains provisions aimed at protecting witnesses when they give testimony. A standardized federal code of criminal procedure is due to enter into force on 1 January 2011. It will contain more detailed measures concerning the protection of witnesses. 38. In Trinidad and Tobago, the Justice Protection Act 2000 provides for the establishment of the agencies that comprise Trinidad and Tobago Justice Protection Program, which include an administrative centre, an investigative agency and a protection agency. D. Inter-State cooperation and regional initiatives 39. Inter-State cooperation and assistance are normally based on the principle of reciprocity. Countries that are willing to accept relocated witnesses from other countries expect to have their own vulnerable witnesses accepted in other countries as well. Various countries with witness protection programmes contemplate such a possibility. For instance, the Witness Protection Acts of Canada and South Africa allow the respective responsible authorities to enter into reciprocal agreements with foreign Governments to admit foreign nationals into the witness protection programme.41 Witness protection is provided on a costrecovery basis. This type of arrangement would be of enormous interest for states pursuing strategies to fight impunity. Other forms of cooperation could be envisaged, such as the exchange of best practices, particularly given the novelty of the field, exchange programs for members of witness protection agencies, information-sharing and training programmes. 40. Though a State’s priority should be to strengthen its domestic system first, it could also bring the issue of witness protection to the international and/or regional forum. For example, the Nordic countries have established a working group which work towards 41 12 Canada, Witness Protection Program Act, S.C. 1996, c. 15, article 14.2. GE.10-15173