On 28 March 2024, a launching of the online training course took place in Belgrade within the project Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in Serbia in cooperation with the Council of Europe regional project HELP in Western Balkan. This event marked the start of a comprehensive training program, aimed at enhancing international cooperation in criminal matters. The training was customized to accentuate international cooperation in asset recovery and to reinforce the knowledge of participants regarding the national legal framework and tools at their disposal. 

The training was officially adopted by the Judicial Academy, which incorporated in the list of courses available for legal professionals on their website. Thirty prosecutors dealing with the criminal cases requiring international cooperation have already enrolled in the training. At the launching event the methodology of the HELP platform for distance learning has been introduced to participants, emphasizing their role in providing accessible training opportunities for legal professionals. The tutor-led program will include 6 modules distributed over six weeks, and will be followed by the final exam. 

The training will raise the capacities of prosecutors to obtain and provide mutual legal assistance using all tools at their disposal when investigating cross border crime and identifying illicit assets outside of Serbia, which is particularly important in the light of the increasingly transnational nature of the predicate offences to money laundering.

The activity has taken place within the Project “Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in Serbia”, funded by the Swedish International Development Agency, and implemented by the Council of Europe.