Albania: Ministry of Justice and UNODC Celebrate UNCAC at 20 With Launch of 2 New Tools on Asset Recovery 

5 December 2023, Tirana, Albania: The Ministry of Justice of Albania and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have launched two new practical guides to support practitioners with financial investigations and to effectively pursue international cooperation for the purpose of asset recovery.

The two guides were launched at a special public event hosted by the Ministry of Justice in Tirana to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in Albania.

“Our capacity to recover stolen assets is increasing”, stated Ms. Adea Pirdeni, Deputy Minister of Justice of Albania. “This is the result of our efforts to reform the State police, improve our investigative capacity, and put in place dedicate structures for prosecution of cases and management of returned stolen assets”, Ms. Pirdeni noted.

According to available statistics, this year the volume of assets confiscated by Albanian authorities amounts to more than 15 million Euro. This is up from over 4 and 5 million Euro in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

“We are very pleased to have the opportunity to work in partnership with the Government of Albania, with the Ministry of Justice and other national counterparts to promote UNCAC implementation in the country, in the South-Eastern Europe region and globally”, said Mr. Koen Marquering, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer at the UNODC Regional Office for South-Eastern Europe and Head of Secretariat for the Regional Anti-Corruption and Illicit Finance Roadmap.

“UNCAC can serve as a powerful instrument to tackle corruption in a comprehensive way, including through international cooperation, and the recovery and return of stolen assets”, Mr. Marquering added.

During the public event, Ms. Jasna Pekic, UNODC Regional Anti-Corruption Specialist, gave an overview of the UNCAC and UNODC’s work at global and regional levels to support its implementation. Mr. Florin Demollari, General Director of Anticorruption in the Ministry of Justice, provided an update on Albania’s anti-corruption measures, including through a network of 50 anti-corruption coordinators in various State bodies and public institutions.

The two guides were developed based on an inclusive process of consultations and coordination among Albanian asset recovery practitioners to reflect national legislation and institutional frameworks.

Ms. Diana Stillo from the Ministry of Justice introduced the Guide on Mutual Legal Assistance in Asset Recovery, which provides a detailed overview of the domestic framework for asset recovery and goes through the process for mutual legal assistance with concrete examples, checklists and templates for easy reference.

Mr. Osman Qystri, from the General Directorate of the State Police, presented the Guide on Fast Action to Investigate, Seize, Confiscate and Recover Criminal Assets. This is a concise reference tool for judicial police officers and prosecutors to facilitate the preliminary investigation phase of a case when evidence is collected and assets generated from criminal activities have to be located and seized with the ultimate goal of confiscation.

The public event formed part of the Integrity Week coordinated by the Ministry of Justice and other national institutions and international partners in Albania to mark the International Anti-Corruption Day.

UNODC supports efforts to strengthen the criminal justice response to corruption as part of its regional platform for fast-tracking UNCAC implementation in the Western Balkans. Albania is an active participant in this platform and the related Regional Anti-Corruption and Illicit Finance Roadmap, endorsed by all Western Balkan jurisdictions in 2021.

UNODC provided technical assistance to support development of the two new guides with funding provided by the Government of the United Kingdom.