Jointly with the National School of Judges of Ukraine (NSJU), the Council of Europe organised an online expert discussion on the application of the recently updated criminal offence of money laundering. This activity builds on long-standing and fruitful cooperation with the NSJU that has been instrumental at increasing the knowledge and skills of Ukrainian judges in the area of money laundering.

The technical paper “Analysis and Commentary upon Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (as amended by law 361 from April 28, 2020)”, had been produced ahead of the exchange by an international expert of the Council of Europe to inform the core of the discussions. The paper provided participants with an independent and objective analysis of the updated criminal offence under Article 209 on Legalization (laundering) of property obtained by criminal means of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The paper identifies and addresses the challenges for the law enforcement agencies, prosecution and judicial authorities in enforcing the Code comprehensively, from the initial stages of investigation and prosecution to conviction.

The discussion hosted judges, prosecutors, and investigators of the law enforcement agencies, as well as experts from the Financial Intelligence Unit, and provided a platform for an exchange of views on the existing challenges and possible solutions pertaining to the application of the money laundering offence, its comparison with other national practices, as well as its alignment with international standards.

This activity was organised within the framework of the Project on “Strengthening measures to counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism in Ukraine”, funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe in their Partnership for Good Governance II.