Calendar of Events

INTERPOL, in co-operation with the U.S. Department of State and the Basel Institute on Governance, will be hosting a Workshop on Investigating and Prosecuting Kleptocracy at the General Secretariat, from Wednesday 21 to Friday 23 October 2009.

Kleptocracy is a term used to describe a government whose high-level officials steal from the State for their own personal financial gain. The effects of kleptocracy are the deterioration of the State and its inability to provide a basic level of human rights, due to the lack of State resources that would normally be used to provide – inter alia – food, water, security, health care and education. Corruption is undeniably a threat to international peace and security and its eradication requires a high level of collaboration from the international community. For anti-corruption tools to be adequate, a holistic approach with operational assistance and mechanisms is required.

The objective of this Workshop is to deliver an intensive programme to assist authorities in investigating and prosecuting high-level corruption, and to strengthen the potential for international collaboration in this area.

The structure of the Workshop will focus on a number of elements related to kleptocratic practices within a fictitious study, which will include:

Examining existing national and international investigation and prosecution tools, and looking at the role of national legislation with regard to prosecuting the supply side of corruption;
Developing and promoting procedures for asset tracing and recovery, including identifying international collaborators. This supports the ability to provide evidence necessary for prosecution;
Identifying legal frameworks that are necessary to support anti-corruption tools, and examining how best to set them up;
Examining the financial institutions considered potential safe havens for illicitly acquired assets and money-laundering activities, and identifying how best to push for the implementation of the highest international standards of transparency;
Recognizing relevant institutional structures needed to support anti-corruption mechanisms, which are in themselves prevention and deterrence factors;
Identifying and analysing how best to implement existing international instruments: UNCAC, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, Financial Action Task Force recommendations, etc.

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