Over 15 public officials from the asset management and asset recovery offices, prosecution and anti-corruption bodies from beneficiary countries from the Eastern Partnership Region came together in Tbilisi and on-line to discuss best practices, common challenges, and international standards in managing seized assets. 

This two-day workshop was informed by the Guidelines for the Management of Seized Assets, produced by the Project, but also by the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism  and the subsequent 2022 Thematic Monitoring Review of Article 6 of the Convention which features “Management of Frozen or Seized Property”. Other current and upcoming international standards on the subject matter, such as a draft EU Directive on Asset Recovery and Confiscation were also extensively discussed in the training. 

Programmed as a deductive learning exercise, the workshop’s first sessions presented the applicable legal framework and international standards for asset seizure and management; to then move to examining the alternative institutional setups required for the effective and efficient management of confiscated assets. 

Two full sessions of the training were devoted to mutual legal assistance and informal cooperation, and, in the understanding that - as stated by one of the Council of Europe experts, the golden rule for international cooperation is building relations and nurturing links with counterparts in other countries - there were plenty of opportunities for interaction between trainees and with the Council of Europe expert in Tbilisi. 

The last sessions of the workshop discussed the specifics of managing seized assets, with due considerations to all management options, but also to the many different categories that could be subject to seizure and forfeiture. In finalising a comprehensive overview of the asset management cycle, the supervision of asset management, the disposal of assets, as well as the possible social reuse of confiscated assets were thoroughly discussed together with the environmental considerations when handling assets. 

Some relevant topics which are also areas of focus of the Project and related to the management of seized assets, such as Non-Conviction Based Confiscation, and Beneficial Ownership Transparency, were also part of the exchanges and led to a lively discussion amongst participants. Other topics such as pre-trial sale of confiscated assets, and the set-up and management of a Confiscation Fund were identified as issues of interest for future Project activities. 

While all countries in the Eastern Partnership region present in the workshop showed an interest in advancing their asset management scheme, there was also a shared agreement on the need to strengthen the institutional and further establish the legislative framework, as well as on the need to explore new tools such non-conviction-based-confiscation.