The mission and the tasks of the Agency
About the National Agency for the Management of Seized Assets
By establishing ANABI, Romania proposes an integrated approach to asset recovery by combining the support for the criminal prosecutions bodies with the attributes of international cooperation, management of seized assets and social reuse of confiscated assets.
The Agency’s Mission
The final purpose of ANABI is to ensure an increase of the execution rate of the confiscation orders issued in criminal matters, through an efficient management of seized assets that are distributed to the Agency by prosecutors and judges. As a consequence, the incomes brought to the state budget will increase, as well as the ones through which the victim compensation is ensured, including the compensation made to the state, in cases when the state was a civil party in the criminal trial.
The Agency’s tasks
According to the provisions of art. 3 of the Law no. 318/2015, the Agency performs the following tasks:
The Agency is tasked to:
a) facilitate the tracing and identification of proceeds from, and other property related to crime that could be subject to freezing, seizure or confiscation orders issued by a competent judicial authority during criminal proceedings;
b) secure management, in the cases specified by this law, of movable assets seized in criminal proceedings;
c) sale, in the cases established by law, movable assets subject to seizure in criminal proceedings;
d) manage the national integrated electronic system of criminal assets;
e) support, under the law, judicial authorities in making use to the best available practices field of identification and management of assets that may be subject to freezing and confiscation measures in criminal proceedings;
f) coordinate, assess and monitor at national level the application and observance of the legal procedures in the field of recovery of proceeds of crime
Elements of context
The Law no. 318/2015 offers a modern solution for the judicial authorities to increase their capabilities to identify the proceeds of crime and to effectively repair the damage caused by the criminal activities.
The essence of this new institution is the inter-agency cooperation – all the agencies with responsibilities in this area will be involved throughout the entire criminal proceedings, in an integrated manner.
European models (FR, BE, NL, IT) and international ones (USA) were taken into consideration as good practice examples. The final form of the law passed by the Romanian Parliament rounds up the initial project by adding the possibility of social reuse of confiscated assets; Moreover, through this approach, Romania fully transposed art. 10 of EU Directive 2014/42 of the European Parliament and the EU Council on the freezing and confiscation of proceeds of crime in the European Union.
The Agency is a result of the National Anticorruption Strategy 2012 -2015 and remains an integrated part of Romania’s internal and international commitments in the field of justice and anti-corruption public policy. Currently, the Agency is involved in the implementation of four national strategic documents:
- The development strategy of the judicial system 2015 – 2020;
- National Anticorruption Strategy 2016 – 2020;
- State commitments for accelerating the fight against corruption as a duty towards its citizens (The London Summit);
- The National Action Plan 2016 – 2018 – Open Governance Partnership.
Also, the Romanian Government through the declaration made during the London Summit and during MCV evaluation committed itself to provide adequate resources and operational independence to the Agency.