Fighting organized and economic crime through asset recovery focus of OSCE training course in Montenegro

On 26 and 27 March, the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, in co-operation with the Judicial Training Centre of Montenegro organized a two-day training course for judges and prosecutors in Podgorica, Montenegro.

The discussions were aimed at raising awareness of the importance of applying asset recovery provisions in the fight against organized crime, corruption, money laundering and other crimes.

Conducted by a national expert and a representative of the Italian Guardia di Finanza, the training course enhanced practitioners' knowledge and promoted a common understanding of financial investigations, identification and recovery of assets acquired through illegal activities, money laundering and cross-border tracing of illicit financial flows. Interactive sessions required participants to apply the knowledge to case scenarios involving complex money laundering schemes and illicitly acquired property, including across national borders. 

The participants also discussed important rulings of the European Court of Human Rights on stand-alone anti-money laundering cases, as well as international and European Union standards and their importance in advancing national efforts in the fight against organized crime and corruption.

Prosecutor Milos Soskic of the Special Prosecutor's Office emphasized that “the exchange of experiences and good practices given us hope to be able to identify and confiscate illegally proceeds of criminal activities in an efficient manner, and that criminal prosecution against offenders of money laundering will be more effective”.

The training course was conducted as part of the OSCE’s multi-year regional project “Strengthening Asset Recovery Efforts in the OSCE Region”, which is funded by Austria, Germany, Italy and the United States.