Economic and organised crime, corruption and money laundering are serious threats to economies, democracy and the rule of law across the world. South-Eastern Europe is particularly vulnerable to these threats due geographical, political and historic reasons.

Criminal activity generates proceeds the amount of which is difficult to address. Development of systems to search, seize and confiscate criminally gained assets is a matter of urgency and one of the most effective ways not only to recover the assets that can be used to fund public expenditures and compensate the crime victims; but also to satisfy the sense of justice and practically apply the principle that “crime should not pay”.

This project builds on the results of the previous joint projects funded by the European Union and implemented by the Council of Europe such as the CARDS Regional Police Project (CARPO – 2004-2007), Project against Economic Crime and Money Laundering in Serbia (PACO-Serbia – 2005-2007), and Support to Prosecutor’s Network in South-Eastern Europe (PROSECO – 2008-2010).

The Purpose of this Project is to enhance the institutional capacity and efficient functioning of the Directorate for Management of Seized and Confiscated Assets at the Ministry of Justice, the Financial Investigation Unit of the Ministry of Interior as well as other key institutions involved in the search, seizure, management and confiscation of the proceeds from crime in the Republic of Serbia.

Activities in the past:

Fourth cycle of the specialised training on financial instruments related to assets recovery for Prosecutors (Andrevlje, Serbia, 8 November – 24 November 2012)

Specialised training course for prosecutors on financial investigations related to assets recovery will be held in November 2012 in Andrevlje, Serbia. This is the final course and participants will be prosecutors from the area of jurisdiction of Novi Sad Appellate Prosecutors Office. The Course consists of three sessions that will be organised on weekly basis as of 4 October to 20 October 2012. Training curriculum was prepared in consultation with the Republican Prosecutors Office and improved based on the experiences gathered during the implementation of previous three training courses for prosecutors from Kragujevac, Belgrade and Niš Appellation.

Third cycle of the specialised training on financial instruments related to assets recovery for Prosecutors
(Kalna, Serbia, 4 October - 20 October 2012)

Specialised training course for prosecutors on financial investigations related to assets recovery was held in October 2012 in Kalna, Serbia. This time participants were prosecutors from the area of jurisdiction of Niš Appellate Prosecutors Office. The Course consisted of three sessions that were organised on weekly basis as of 4 October to 20 October 2012. Training curriculum was prepared in consultation with the Republican Prosecutors Office and improved based on the experiences gathered during the implementation of previous two training courses for prosecutors from Kragujevac and Belgrade Appellation.

Training of journalists on asset recovery reporting
(Kragujevac, Serbia, 14 June 2012)

CAR project organized a fourth training session on assets recovery reporting. The aim of the training, conducted by EBART Media Archive, addressed some of the shortcomings identified in the two reports prepared under the CAR project (first report prepared by EBART and second by CESID). The main topics on the training agenda were proper media reporting, presumption of innocence, use of legal terminology with concrete examples, media reporting on the on-going criminal proceedings and regional experience. Training was held in Kragujevac on 14th June 2012.

Expert meeting Managing Seized and Confiscated Assets – Challenges and Solutions" (31 May – 1 June 2012, Belgrade, Serbia)

The CAR project, together with the OSCE Mission in Serbia,held a two day expert meeting on "Managing Seized and Confiscated Assets –Challenges and Solutions". The aim of the meeting was to facilitate the cooperation of the regional asset recovery offices and enhance their efficiency in managing the proceeds from crime.Seven international experts participated at the meeting and presented good practices on asset management in different jurisdictions. The meeting was held from 31 May to 1 June 2012 in the Palace "Serbia" in Belgrade.

Photos

2nd Event on “Criminal Asset Recovery and ECtHR Jurisprudence”
(17 April 2012, Belgrade, Serbia)

Following the request of the Serbian Supreme Court of Cassation, The CAR Serbia Projectwill hold another event on “Criminal Asset Recovery and Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights” in Belgrade on17 April 2012. This session will be attended mainly by the judges of the Supreme Court of Cassation and they will discuss issues related to recovery of proceeds from crime from the perspective of the European Court of Human Rights case law.

Second specialised training on financial instruments related to assets recovery for Prosecutors (Ecka, Serbia 22-24 March 2012)

A Second cycle of training for prosecutors concerning the international financial instruments related to assets recovery started on 22 March 2012 in Ecka. The training gathered the prosecutors from the jurisdiction of Belgrade Appellate Prosecutors Office.Three different training sessions were held from 22 March to 7 April 2012. The curriculum of the training was prepared in consultation with the Republican Prosecutors Office.

Additional session to the specialised training on financial instruments related to assets recovery for Prosecutors
(3-4 February 2012, Kragujevac, Serbia)

The specialised training course for prosecutors, that consisted of three sessions and was finalised in December 2011, will be continued in February 2012 with the additional session dealing with some specific aspects of financial investigations. It will take place in Kragujevac, Serbia on 3 and 4 February 2012

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