PROJECT SUMMARY

The project “RINSE – Research and Information Sharing on freezing and confiscation orders in European Union” is a synergy of 6 Partners across 4 EUMS (Italy, Greece, Belgium and France) aiming to contribute to fostering the mutual recognition of the decisions of EU countries regarding the seizure and confiscation of assets, by enhancing knowledge, competences and skills of judiciary professionals and other key players involved in the Multi-Phase Asset Recovery process.

Duration: RINSE started at December 2022 and has a duration of 30 months.
It is co-funded by the Justice Programme of the European Union.

Results/impacts:

• increased knowledge and understanding of Regulation (EU) 2018/1805 and Directive 2014/42/EU and their interconnections among judicial and non-judicial professionals.
• greater understanding of national legislation in terms of the technical, legal and practical aspects of the multi-phase Asset Recovery process.
• enhanced understanding of the social reuse of confiscated assets through recommendations and best practices sharing.
• progressive mutual recognition of standards, requirements and practices, allowing for a swifter cooperation and harmonization of cross-border criminal cases.
• creation of a broad community of practice at EU level in this field.
• public administrators enabled to better manage and use the confiscated assets according to broad civic and social values.
• long-term benefits for the communities affected by criminal organizations due to strengthened capacity and cooperation of the institutional actors.

Actions:

The project’s rationale builds on 3 main action pillars:

• Comparative analysis to identify training needs, weak spots and best practices with regard to national implementation of EU Regulation 2018/1805 and EU Directive 2014/42 in Italy, Greece, Belgium and France
• Training design and delivery targeting judicial and non-judicial professionals: 7 online modules; 12 national workshops; 1 international workshop; 7 Podcasts
• Best practices sharing: multilingual materials, 4 Info Days, 4 online LinkedIn events, 1 final conference.

Keywords:

– Local magistrates
– Criminal law
– Judicial training
– Law, criminology, penology
– Judicial cooperation

PARTNERS

Partners:

- COORDINATOR: Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli

- G.R.A.L.E. SRL SPIN OFF UNIVERSITARIO G.R.A.L.E. RESEARCH AND CONSULTING S.R.L

- EPLO EUROPEAN PUBLIC LAW ORGANIZATION

- IGO-IFJ INSTITUUT VOOR GERECHTELIJKE OPLEIDING - INSTITUT DE FORMATION JUDICIAIRE

- CRIM’HALT

- UNIVERSITE TOULOUSE II-JEAN JAURES

FUNDAMENTAL STEPS

WP2: Preliminary analysis and best practices identification

Coordinated by UNIVAN, the WP is aimed at producing valuable data and information about major training needs and gaps of investigators, prosecutors, judges and other key institutions involved in asset tracing and identification, freezing and seizure, confiscation and international asset disposal, concerning the knowledge and understanding of the 2 EU legislative provisions. Contributing to the identification of forms of freezing and confiscation that comply with the parameters set by the Regulation 2018/1805 highlighting existing best practices. Providing best practice guidance for increased international cooperation in the criminal law sector.

DELIVERABLES:

       Country reports

Online surveys

Focus groups meetings

Data comparison, weak spots and best practices identification

WP3: Training materials and event

Based on the results of WP2, this WP is aimed at gaining new knowledge and competences on the measures related to the implementation of the 2 EU legislative provisions (Council Regulation (EU) 2018/1805 and EU Directive 2014/42) in 4 EU Member States (IT-GR-FR-BE), among investigators, prosecutors, judges and other institutions involved in asset recovery and reuse chain.

RINSE adopts a holistic approach in considering the 2 legislative measures and their implications, as confiscation cannot be considered successful per se without considering the whole chain of involved actions and subjects till the final social reuse of the asset. Consequently, the proposed training format builds on three main interlinked pillars: 1) ASSETS FREEZING AND CONFISCATION 2) ASSETS MONITORING AND DISPOSAL 3) ASSETS USE AND REUSE

DELIVERABLES:

Development of the training programme

Design and implementation of the online course

Organization of 12 National training events

International training workshop

7 Podcasts

WP4: Networking, Dissemination and Best practices sharing

Coordinated by EPLO, WP4 aims to reach the following goals: • building a community of practice favoring the debate among concerned professionals and stakeholders regarding the mutual recognition of freezing and confiscation orders; • creating a nurturing environment for the wide dissemination and adoption of project’s outputs within the countries participating in the project and across the EU; • enhancing knowledge exchange and best practices sharing; • informing future national policies in the criminal law field, in response to the EU recommendations for the development of uniform approaches and stronger cooperation in the field.

DELIVERABLES:

Dissemination and communication material

Organization of dissemination events