With over 300 capacity-building and supporting activities aimed at strengthening the capacities of criminal justice authorities in South East Europe and Türkiye to search, seize and confiscate proceeds from online crime, to prevent money laundering on the Internet and to secure electronic evidence, the Joint Project of the European Union and of the Council of Europe, iPROCEEDS-2, concluded its four-year implementation period. The Closing Event took place on 14 December 2023 in Bucharest, Romania, during the Octopus Conference 2023.
The event brought together key partners from the seven project countries/area, alongside the project team and the representative of the European Commission, to discuss the progress made in strengthening legislation in view of the effective investigation, prosecution and adjudication of cybercrime cases. Improvements in inter-agency, public-private and international co-operation were also highlighted.
Recognizing the positive impact in the region of the Convention of Cybercrime (Budapest Convention) and its First and Second Additional Protocols, the project team members emphasized that further support is needed for the ratification and implementation of the Second Additional Protocol at domestic level.
The event served as a platform for the project partner institutions to present successful cases involving international, public-private or inter-agency co-operation in combating cybercrime. It provided an opportunity to share domestic experiences in drafting cybersecurity legislation and present practices related to the delivery of judicial training activities.
Building on the outcomes and lessons learned from iPROCEEDS and iPROCEEDS-2, a new Joint Project of the European Union and of the Council of Europe – CyberSEE – is scheduled to commence in January 2024.
Budapest Convention on Cybercrime
First Additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention