JustGroup Launches a Basic Online Course on Investigative Interviewing

JustGroup continues to develop educational tools that help expand the practice of investigative interviewing among criminal justice professionals.

One of these tools is a series of eight micro-learning videos, Fundamentals of Investigative Interviewing, developed in cooperation with the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights and the national investigative interviewing trainer and expert team. These short video lectures explain the core principles of the methodology, introduce its underlying logic, and demonstrate how its key elements work in practice.

From Principles to Practice

The series opens with Asbjørn Rachlew, former Senior Police Officer in Norway, member of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), and one of the pioneers of investigative interviewing in Norway. In his introductory lecture, he explains why modern criminal investigations have shifted away from seeking confessions and instead focus on obtaining accurate and reliable information.

In the following seven episodes, members of the national investigative interviewing trainer and expert team explore the key components of investigative interviewing:

• Investigative mindset. Yurii Bielousov, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, explains why the quality of an investigation begins with the investigator’s mindset rather than interview techniques alone.
• The PEACE model. Viktoriia Rohalska, Professor at the Dnipro State University of Internal Affairs and JustGroup consultant, explains how all stages of investigative interviewing — from planning to evaluation — are interconnected.
• Planning and co-interviewing. Ihor Polshchykov, prosecutor at the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, demonstrates how careful preparation and teamwork contribute to better interview outcomes.

• Building rapport. Viktoriia Livochka, prosecutor at the Sviatoshyn District Prosecutor’s Office in Kyiv, explains why trust, empathy, and impartiality are essential for obtaining high-quality information.
• Free recall. Taras Semkiv, Head of a Division within the War Crimes Department of the Office of the Prosecutor General, explains how to work with memory without suggestion or leading questions.
• Managing the interview. Vitalii Kabaiev, Senior Detective at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), shares practical approaches to interviewing uncooperative interviewees without resorting to pressure or confrontation.
• Closure and evaluation. Iryna Samborska, prosecutor at the Office of the Prosecutor General, explains why evaluating an interview is just as important as preparing for it.

Together, these videos provide a comprehensive introduction to investigative interviewing — from its values and principles to practical tools that can be applied by investigators, prosecutors, detectives, and other criminal justice professionals.

Knowledge Accessible to Everyone

The series was developed in a micro-learning format to make foundational knowledge on investigative interviewing accessible to a wider audience. Each video focuses on a specific aspect of the methodology and is designed to be useful to both those encountering the approach for the first time and practitioners who already apply it in their daily work.

The video series forms part of JustGroup’s broader efforts to advance investigative interviewing in Ukraine. It complements the organisation’s growing portfolio of educational resources, including the Standards, the Manual, the mini-course on emotional intelligence, analytical publications, and development programmes for criminal justice practitioners.

The videos were produced as part of the “Interviewing in Ukraine: Upholding human rights in law enforcement and criminal justice governance” project, implemented by JustGroup with the support of the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights at the University of Oslo.