Expert Forum and the National Agency for the Management of Seized Assets (ANABI) organised a public debate in Bucharest on 23 November 2022 on the social re-use of assets recovered from crime and mechanisms to protect victims.
The aim of the event was to present best practices from other countries (USA, Spain and Italy) on how the state can provide adequate support to victims of crime and build an effective mechanism for the social re-use of assets generated by crime.
The experience of the three countries was presented with the support of the following speakers:
– Mr. Peter Halpern, Resident Legal Advisor, US Embassy in Romania
– Ms. Maria Esperanza García Figueras, Legal Adviser, Office for Asset Recovery and Administration (ORGA), Spain
– Mr. Bruno Corda, Director, National Agency for Seized and Confiscated Assets in Italy (ANBSC)
– Ms. Tatiana Giannone, Confiscated Assets Department, Libera. Associazioni, nomi e numeri contro le mafie, Italy
Mr. Cornel Călinescu, Director General of ANABI, presented the new elements recently introduced in the legislation, namely the establishment of the National Support Mechanism for Crime Prevention. This mechanism provides concrete solutions for financing crime prevention measures. The mechanism is developed to provide adequate protection to victims of crime, including through the operationalization of an emergency fund accessible within 72 hours from the moment of referral of a victim to the entities responsible for providing assistance and protection.
Participants encouraged more frequent use of international best practice, namely the public and social re-use of assets confiscated in criminal cases.
Ms. Laura Ștefan, Executive Director of the Expert Forum moderated the discussions.
The event was attended both by representatives of public institutions in Romania with a direct interest in this topic and by representatives of non-governmental organisations providing support and protection to victims of crime.
The event was organised with the support of the Office of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) in partnership with the Central and Eastern European Law Initiative (CEELI) and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).
