The two-day international conference “Strengthening the effectiveness of international co-operation in fighting transnational organised crime”, served as a platform and an opportunity to share challenges prosecutors face in specific, complex cases, including those addressing the confiscation of illegally obtained assets, was organised in co-operation with the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Armenia.
Emphasis was placed on the importance of enhancing non-conviction-based confiscation as a complementary tool for the recovery of illicit assets and including appropriate safeguards for freezing and confiscation proceedings.
Anna Vardapetyan, Prosecutor General of Armenia, stressed the importance of the Conference by noting that the co-operation of the Prosecutor's Office with the European Union and the Council of Europe has deep-rooted traditions and has entered a qualitatively new stage of development in the recent years. “I am confident that today’s launching event will set a new, higher bar for the professional dialogue, and will become an effective platform for sharing knowledge about international co-operation in combating transnational organised crime, as well as the experiences and challenges of our countries in the fields of confiscating of illegally acquired property.
"Happy to welcome this high-level conference on International Co-operation in Fighting Transnational Crime; working together on the basis of European standards to fight transnational crime and strengthen the effectiveness of rule of law and justice reforms is key to strengthen Armenian institutional reform and resilience. Rule of law and justice reform is essential to consolidate democracy," mentioned Vassilis Maragos, the European Union Ambassador to Armenia in his opening remarks.
Prosecutors from eleven member States of the Council of Europe (Armenia, Austria, Czechia, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Romania, and Switzerland) participated in the conference, as well as the President and the Vice-President of the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors (CCPE), and the EUROJUST.
Highlighting the importance of international co-operation between prosecutors and law enforcement authorities, Jana Zezulová, the CCPE President, noted in her keynote address: “CCPE is on some occasions referred to as the “prosecutorial arm” of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, meaning that it is through the CCPE that the best European practices are assembled, analysed and transformed into so called “soft law” standards and guidance which the Committee of Ministers transmits to all Member States for reinforcing the status of prosecutors and their independent, impartial, and effective work.”
This event is part of the European Union and 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.
