OSCE holds workshop series for criminal justice specialists dealing with asset recovery in North Macedonia

The OSCE, in close co-operation with the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors of North Macedonia, concluded on 22 January 2021, a three-day online training course on international co-operation and mutual legal assistance in asset recovery for fourteen public prosecutors and judges.

The overarching objective of the workshop was to enhance the capability of criminal justice specialists dealing with asset recovery to request and provide successful international co-operation in transnational crime cases, in particular relating to asset tracing, freezing, freezing and confiscation and repatriation. The workshop focused on international exchanges of intelligence and evidence. In addition, it examined how jurisdictions in the region may use the tools and legislation of other jurisdictions, both in the region and elsewhere, to either assist in the conviction of an individual (and subsequent confiscation of assets) or the seizure and repatriation of assets by another method in the absence of a conviction.

The theoretical part of the workshop, delivered by international and local experts from the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors of the Republic of North Macedonia, was followed by an interactive and immersive exercise based on a case study and designed to be relevant to North Macedonia jurisdiction and the region.

The Office of the Co-ordinator of Economic and Environmental Activities and the Transnational Threats Department organized the online workshop in the framework of the extra-budgetary project “Strengthening the fight against transnational organized crime in South-Eastern Europe through improved regional co-operation in asset seizure, confiscation, management and re-use”. This cross-dimensional project is funded by the United States Department of State, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom.