On 19-20 September 2023, bilateral meetings were organised with the Supreme Court, the General Prosecutor's Office, the Anti-Corruption General Directorate under the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Financial Monitoring Service and the State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan in view of supporting national authorities to advance the prosecution and adjudication of money laundering and asset recovery cases. The meetings allowed to discuss the Supreme Court's Plenary Decision dated February 2023, focusing on judicial practice in the area of processing money laundering cases.

The Supreme Court’s Plenary Decision aims to provide guidance for the judiciary and the law enforcement in the prosecution and processing of money laundering cases. In this respect, the bilateral meetings were successful in identifying areas that need to be further improved to ensure a clear roadmap in the processing of money laundering and asset recovery cases. The core aspect of the discussion between the national authorities and the Council of Europe consultants was whether conviction for a predicate offence shall or shall not be a prerequisite for a conviction for money laundering.

The meetings concluded that money laundering as a standalone offence needs to be further enhanced and explained in the Supreme Court’s Plenary Decision.  Furthermore, the meetings provided an open platform to discuss major challenges faced by the judicial and prosecutorial authorities in Azerbaijan in the area of prosecution and adjudication of money laundering and asset recovery cases. 

The discussions also focused on different mechanisms used by the national authorities for seizure and confiscation of illicit proceeds of economic crimes. Currently, the Government of Azerbaijan is taking steps to introduce extended and non-conviction based confiscation instruments which would lead to a more effective framework for the recovery of proceeds from crime, for the benefit of the Azerbaijani state and society.
Additional suggestions for good practices in the area of processing money laundering and asset recovery cases will be delivered to the national authorities as a follow-up to these bilateral meetings. 

This event is part of the European Union and the Council of Europe joint programme “Partnership for Good Governance”, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe, in the framework of the project on “Preventing and fighting economic crime in Azerbaijan”.