Baku, October 25, AZERTAC

The 8th meeting of the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN) Law Enforcement Network (LEN) themed “Investigation and Prosecution of Corruption: Confiscation of Proceeds, Asset Recovery and Independence of Prosecutors” has today started in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.

Organized by the Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan, Anti-Corruption Directorate with the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the conference convenes national authorities in charge of investigating and prosecuting corruption-related crimes that involve confiscation and asset recovery in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, including specialized anti-corruption prosecutors and investigators, along with other relevant authorities.

Addressing the conference, Azerbaijan`s deputy Prosecutor General, Director of the Anti-Corruption Directorate with the Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev stressed that the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia has made a significant contribution to anti-corruption reforms held in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Aliyev underlined that fighting corruption is one of the key priorities of the Azerbaijani government, and highlighted the implementation of preventive, punishment and awareness-raising measures taken in Azerbaijan under President Ilham Aliyev.

He said Azerbaijan has been cooperating with the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia since 2003. Aliyev noted that the country has successfully completed three monitoring phases so far, being one of the first countries to embark on the fourth monitoring round.

Anti-Corruption Network Manager Olga Savran and Chair of the Law Enforcement Network Anka Jurma hailed Azerbaijan`s active participation in the Network.

The main objective of the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Law Enforcement Network is to help law-enforcement practitioners working on corruption cases to build their capacity and to learn about modern investigation and prosecution techniques, and to build professional contacts necessary for effective investigation and prosecution of complex cross border corruption cases.

The main focus of this LEN meeting will be on the issue of confiscation of proceeds of corruption.

This discussion will be supported by the ACN Study on this issue that was conducted during 2017.

The meeting will also address the new issue of recovery of assets.

Following the previous meeting in 2016 in Astana, Kazakhstan, the ACN LEN will continue addressing the challenging issue of independence of prosecutors. This seminar will continue the discussion of relevant international standards and good practices, including institutional and fiscal guarantees to prevent undue political interference in the work of prosecutors, as well as internal rules and procedures necessary to insure independence of case prosecutors from undue interference of their hierarchy. In order to support this discussion, the ACN may also develop a discussion paper on this subject.

Investigators and prosecutors at the meeting will discuss modern methods for confiscation of proceeds of corruption, modern methods for recovery of assets, challenges and solutions for ensuring independence of prosecutors.