The introduction of non-conviction based confiscation of illegal property is one of the key areas of anticorruption reform pursued by the Armenian authorities, which has been supported by the Council of Europe (CoE).
The EU/CoE joint project on “Strengthening institutional capacities to fight and prevent corruption in Armenia” organised a workshop on “Non-conviction based confiscation of illegally obtained property” on 22 January 2020 in Yerevan, with 30 representatives from the Ministry of Justice, General Prosecutor’s office, Investigative Committee, Special Investigative Service, Central Bank, judiciary and civil society organisations, as well as by the ambassadors of Bulgaria and Czech Republic in Armenia.
In June 2019 the project had provided an opinion on the “Draft Law of the Republic of Armenia on Civil Forfeiture of illegal assets” and organised a roundtable discussion. Besides, in November 2019 the project provided additional explanations to the Armenian authorities on the best practices for introduction of “civil confiscation” by addressing a set of questions and issues identified by the authorities.
As a follow-up activity, and at the request of the beneficiary institutions, the project organised this workshop aimed at discussing non-conviction-based confiscation (NCBC) of illegally obtained property in criminal and civil proceedings with a broad range of stakeholders, thus supporting a participatory approach within the Armenian legislative reform process.
Opening speeches were delivered by CoE Head of Office Natalya Voutova and Deputy Minister of Justice Srbuhi Galyan.
The CoE experts gave presentations on NCBC models and state practices in the incorporation of NCBC laws in national legal systems, an overview of the “Draft Law of Armenia on Civil Forfeiture of Illegal Assets”, as well as the main challenges and recommendations in the implementation of NCBC, based on international best practices.
The participants expressed their approaches and discussed the NCBC models, the draft law of Armenia and the challenges that may occur during the implementation of NCBC in Armenia.
This activity was organised within the framework of the EU/CoE Partnership for Good Governance II Project on “Strengthening institutional capacities to fight and prevent corruption in Armenia” (PGGII-ARM) which is funded jointly by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.