The United Nations Convention against Corruption (the “Convention”) is the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument through which States parties agreed on the basic norms for preventing and combatting corruption. Chapter V of the Convention is dedicated to asset recovery, and article 51 establishes the return of assets as a “fundamental principle of the Convention”. Moreover, the Convention sets forth substantive provisions to address specific measures related to the return of assets and their final disposal. More specifically, article 57 sets forth parameters for the disposal of the assets, including by returning them to their prior legitimate owners. It also encourages States to give special consideration to conducting agreements or mutually acceptable arrangements for the final disposition of the confiscated property.
In addition, in the political declaration entitled “Our common commitment to effectively addressing challenges and implementing measures to prevent and combat corruption and strengthen international cooperation” adopted by the General Assembly at its special session against corruption held in 2021, Member States recognized the importance of asset recovery and return in the fight against corruption and that it, inter alia, contributed to fostering sustainable development and promoting justice and the rule of law at all levels and in all States. Moreover, resolution 7/1 of the Conference of the States Parties to the Convention encouraged States parties to make full use of the possibility of concluding agreements or mutually acceptable arrangements for the return and final disposal of confiscated property pursuant to article 57, paragraph 5, of the Convention and to consider the Sustainable Development Goals in the use and management of recovered assets.
In the same vein, at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in 2015, States committed to significantly reduce, by 2030, illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime (SDG 16.4). States also committed to strengthening domestic resource mobilization, including through international support to developing countries, to improve domestic capacity for tax and other revenue collection (SDG 17.1). Since the adoption of the SDGs, there has been broad consensus that returned assets play an important role in domestic resource mobilization towards the achievement of the SDGs.
As a result, anti-corruption measures generally, including asset return and its importance for sustainable development, have been high on the international agenda. For instance, the conclusions and recommendations of the 2017 Economic and Social Council Forum on Financing for Development follow up (“FfD Forum”) encouraged States to strengthen international cooperation on the recovery and return of stolen assets, recognized that asset return was a priority and supported “continued exchanges on the development of good practices on asset return".[2] More recently, in the conclusions and recommendations of the 2024 FfD Forum, States inter alia recommitted to strengthening international cooperation and good practices on asset return and recovery and welcomed the progress made on developing good practices on asset return to foster sustainable development.[3] In addition, the importance of asset recovery was recently highlighted at the G20 summit in New Delhi.[4]
Different fora have examined the importance of asset return for sustainable development, such as the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR), held in Washington D.C. from 4 to 6 December 2017, which adopted the GFAR principles for disposition and transfer of confiscated stolen assets in corruption cases. For example, GFAR principle 6 states that “where possible, in the end use of confiscated proceeds, consideration should also be given to encouraging actions which fulfil UNCAC principles of combating corruption, repairing the damage done by corruption, and achieving development goals”. The GFAR Action Series launched ahead of the tenth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Convention builds further upon these principles and aims at facilitating communication and negotiations among requested and requesting countries in connection with specific ongoing cases.[5]
Another key forum has been the series of international expert meetings on asset return and sustainable development, also known as the “Addis Process”. There have been three iterations of these meetings, in Addis Ababa in 2017 and 2019 and in Nairobi in 2022. They have contributed to the advancement of the knowledge of practitioners on a variety of topics, including:
The fourth instalment of the Addis process is scheduled to be held from 11-13 December 2024.
The proposed meeting aims to build upon the progress made in past meetings of the series in the area of asset recovery and sustainable development and consider how to best share good practices on asset return so they can be taken into account in multilateral dialogues and processes. In particular, any relevant developments from the Summit for the Future, held from 22 to 23 September 2024, as well as the ongoing Financing for Development Process in view of the FfD4 Summit in Spain in July 2025, will be taken into account during the meeting.
In view of the progress made, the purpose of the proposed fourth expert meeting in the Addis process is to:
