OSCE leads debate on asset recovery at Vilnius anti-corruption meeting

The 21st International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) brought together leading activists, community stakeholders, the private sector, government practitioners and international organizations from around the world from October 18-18 in Vilnius, Lithuania to discuss common challenges and opportunities in the fight against corruption. 21st of June.

With more than 90 thematic workshops under the theme “Facing Global Threats: Defending Integrity”, the IACC is a forum for debate and exchange of experiences on how existing international and national commitments can be translated into concrete actions to put an end to corruption.

The OSCE actively contributed to the conference by organizing a workshop on asset recovery focusing on the findings of “Good practices in asset recovery legislation in selected OSCE participating States”. This comparative report presents established good practices and identifies innovative legal provisions that can serve as inspiration for other States to advance their asset recovery mechanisms. Its findings serve to inform policies aimed at recovering illegally acquired assets and are crucial to effectively combating organized crime and corruption. Ranging from civil forfeiture laws to social reuse, the study provides tools and lessons relevant to multiple stakeholders.

The report, published with the Basel Institute on Governance, examines asset recovery legislation in 18 OSCE participating States and was prepared as part of the project “Strengthening Asset Recovery Efforts in the OSCE region” implemented by the OSCE Department of Transnational Threats and the Office of the Coordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities.

Moderated by Professor Anita Ramasastry, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office for Combating Corruption, the workshop included experts from the OSCE, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Basel Institute on Governance, as well as the perspective of an Italian practitioner and a contribution from Romanian civil society.

Mr. Ralf Ernst, Deputy Coordinator/Head of Economic Activities at OCEEA, provided an overview of the support his office and the Transnational Threats Department provide to participating States in the seizure, confiscation and management of original assets criminal and corrupt.