Guide on Asset Confiscation in Bosnia and Herzegovina Launched

07-08 November 2024, Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina – UNODC has recently launched a new guide on asset confiscation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

Developed by leading practitioners in the country, the guide was officially presented at a 2-day capacity building event on financial investigations, held under the leadership of the Agency for Management of Seized Assets of the Federation of BiH.

The guide is a result of UNODC’s efforts to advance the use of financial investigations at the earliest stages of criminal investigations within the framework of the Regional Anti-Corruption and Illicit Finance Roadmap.  

With the aim of seizing and confiscating increasing volumes of criminal proceeds, the guide, which underwent several peer-reviews, outlines steps to be undertaken by investigators, prosecutors and ultimately asset management agencies in ensuring that crime does not pay. It also features procedural templates to be used in financial investigations.

At the event, conducted with support from the OSCE Secretariat and OSCE Mission in BiH, over 40 representatives from law enforcement, prosecution and judiciary, but also banks, notaries, tax authorities and other financial institutions, came together to discuss challenges and opportunities in conducting financial investigations in BiH.

The event showcased good practices from Sarajevo Canton where involved financial and non-financial institutions assign contact persons when a financial investigation is initiated.  Participants brainstormed on ways to ensure high-quality work by investigators, the need for improvement of inter-institutional cooperation and coordination with prosecutors, as well as the role of judges in considering the outcome of financial investigations in court rulings.

UNODC builds capacities on the criminal justice response to corruption as part of its regional platform for fast-tracking implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption in the Western Balkans. Bosnia and Herzegovina 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.