On 26-28 November 2019, the UNODC's Global Firearms Programme (GFP) in co-operation with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations (MoFTER) of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the Ministry of Economy (ME) of Montenegro and the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications (MTTT) of Serbia, organized a training on illicit arms trade in Belgrade, Serbia.
44 prosecutors, law enforcement and customs officials and arms export control authorities from BiH, Montenegro, and Serbia attended the event.
The specific objectives of the workshop were to enhance knowledge on conducting investigation and prosecution of illicit trade in firearms, to identify challenges in the existing criminal laws and criminal procedure laws, and to share good practices and lessons learned. The workshop was divided in three parts: legal framework and procedures for arms trade, prosecution of illicit arms trade and case studies.
The participants received information about the current regimes of arms transfers in BiH, Montenegro and Serbia, and gained knowledge on the actors engaged in arms transfers, type of activities associated with arms transfers and the documents required to conduct arms transfers. The second part of the training has provided an overview of the applicable criminal provisions and details about the methods of investigation, identification and collection of evidence and relevant procedural measures. The participants have applied the gained knowledge in specific scenarios for investigations on illicit arms transfers and have identified challenges and solutions under the legislations in BiH, Montenegro and Serbia.
The substantive topics in the workshop were presented by experts from MoFTER, ME, MTTT, UNODC and prosecutors from BiH, Montenegro and Serbia. The activity was made possible through a generous contribution by Germany.