Negotiatios for the additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism (CETS no. 198)

At the 23rd EPAC/EACN Annual Conference in Bucharest, Mr. Cornel-Virgiliu CĂLINESCU, Chair of the Committee of Experts on Criminal Asset Recovery (PC-RAC) and Director General of the National Agency for the Management of Seized Assets (ANABI), delivered a presentation titled „Towards a new binding instrument in the Council of Europe on international co-operation as regards the management, recovery and sharing of assets proceeding from crime”.

The presentation focused on the ongoing efforts to negotiate an additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure, and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism (CETS no. 198). Director CĂLINESCU highlighted the significant role of this new legal instrument which aims to expand the tools available for identification, tracing, seizure, and confiscation of assets linked to transnational crime and terrorism, ensuring more effective cross-border collaboration among law enforcement and judicial authorities.

The presentation also emphasized several critical mechanism and tools under consideration within the PC-RAC, including: establishing and empowering AROs and AMOs with adequate powers to fulfill their role and functions, introducing urgent freezing powers to preserve property until a freezing order has been issued, expanding confiscation powers and regulating non-conviction based confiscation (NCBC), defining mandatory elements for financial investigations and enhancing post-conviction tracing of criminal assets, regulating interlocutory sales, registers of bank accounts & crypto assets, prioritizing victim compensation and facilitation of asset sharing agreements. Mr. CĂLINESCU stressed that in order to ensure the effective and fair implementation of these measures, legal remedies, safeguards and data protection rules are essential.

The importance of active involvement of Council of Europe jurisdictions in the PC-RAC and their contribution to this process was underlined. Mr. CĂLINESCU pointed out that the Protocol will provide much-needed improvements to the asset recovery framework, ensuring that criminal proceeds are swiftly and efficiently identified and confiscated, ultimately serving the interest of society and providing support to victims. Discussions at the conference highlighted the Protocol potential to strengthen global efforts to disrupt illicit financial flows and ensure accountability.

The call for Council of Europe jurisdictions to engage with the PC-RAC and to contribute to the ongoing negotiations of the additional protocol supplementing CETS no. 198 was also reflected in the Bucharest Declaration, adopted during the 23rd EPAC/EACN Annual Conference and General Assembly in Bucharest.

For more details about the 23rd EPAC/EACN Annual Conference and General Assembly in Bucharest and its outcomes, please visit the official EPAC/EACN website at https://www.epac-eacn.org.

For more information on the activities of the Committee of Experts on Criminal Asset Recovery (PC-RAC) and ongoing developments in the negation of the additional Protocol, please visit the official website at https://www.coe.int/en/web/cdpc/pc-rac.