Re-use and Social Re-use of Confiscated Assets at the centre of discussion of OSCE workshop in North Macedonia

On 27 September, the OSCE held the third workshop on the use and social re-use of confiscated assets in North Macedonia, which gathered government representatives, civil society, and national and international legal experts, to foster public discourse on this highly relevant topic.

This workshop in Skopje comes in a timely for North Macedonia, as the country is in the process of amending the law on the management of confiscated assets. The Deputy Minister of Justice, Agim Nuhiu, and the Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, Jeffrey Goldstein, in their opening remarks reiterated the importance of asset recovery in countering organized crime and corruption.

The Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje thanked the Government of North Macedonia for the ongoing efforts in improving asset recovery processes in the country. “Your dedication shows readiness for further development of strong institutions that through an increased mutual support will ensure a higher level of security and safety in the country,” he said.

The Deputy Minister of Justice highlighted the recent efforts by the Government and stressed the important work done by the Agency for Management of Confiscated Property and the Working Group drafting the amendment of the law on the management of confiscated assets as well as the need to meet international commitments in this area.

“Within the framework of the amendment process (of the law), which involves several stakeholders, I would like to emphasize the need to affirm the principle of re-using confiscated property for social purposes. I am convinced that this process (of the amendment of the law) will be finalized by applying all international standards and best practices from countries that have experience in social re-use,” the Deputy Minister added.   

The workshop also included presentations of practices and experiences from Italy, Romania, Spain, and the UK who also shared examples and challenges related to social re-use from their jurisdictions. OSCE asset recovery experts closed the workshop with an overview of international practices of re-use and social re-use, as well as the importance of good governance, incentivisation of relevant government agencies, and public communication in re-use efforts.

This initiative was organized within the framework of the OSCE’s 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 – jointly implemented by the Transnational Threats Department (TNTD) and the Office of the Co-ordinator of Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA). The project is financially supported by the United States, Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom.