The Action “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime” in Central Asia organised a workshop on “Adjudication of economic crime cases for the judges and prosecutors of the Kyrgyz Republic”. The event, which took place on 23-24 November in Bishkek, aimed at enhancing the capacities of the judiciary and the prosecutors in Kyrgyzstan to effectively investigate economic crime cases.

The workshop gathered 29 judges, prosecutors as well as representatives of the High School of Justice under the Supreme Court and the Training Centre of the State Financial Intelligence Service (Kyrgyz FIU). The trainers who had previously instructed judges and prosecutors from Bishkek, regional courts and prosecution offices, also participated in the workshop. The participants are expected to transfer the acquired knowledge to their colleagues in courts and prosecution offices in the country.

The workshop provided the participants with up-to-date information to deepen their understanding of the concept of financial investigation and of its role in the fight against economic crime. It also covered the existing judicial challenges in seizure and confiscation with non-conviction-based confiscation (NCBC). The activity increased the awareness of the participants of the best practices in other jurisdictions in conducting judicial control over the pre-trial investigation in the money laundering and financing of terrorism (ML/TF) cases. It also provided examples of the judicial proceedings, processes with direct and indirect evidence, standard of proof and evaluation of evidence of ML cases and trial management of ML cases.

The participants also discussed the existing trends and challenges in the area of seizure and confiscation of the proceeds from economic crimes. They highlighted the need for national and international cooperation in adjudicating economic crimes and for the relevant tools to manage such coordination. 

This activity was organised by the Action on “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime” in the framework of the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme 2020-2024, which is a joint initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe. The Action is aimed at strengthening capacities to fight and prevent economic crime in five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan).