Cooperation supports the strengthening of the Peruvian Judiciary

Within the framework of the project against drug trafficking and organised crime in Peru, several workshops have been held dedicated to the training of judges, members of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Peru’s National Police Force.

Among the topics addressed in the different workshops, support has been given on the effective handling of cases of asset seizure within the policy framework of the new Peruvian regulations.  In Latin America, “extinción del dominio” (asset seizure) is the term used to refer to the practice in which the State acquires ownership of certain assets that have been obtained through criminal activities. For example, profits generated through drug trafficking.  One of these workshops addressed issues such as the European models used for asset seizures, the ideal tools for detecting ownership and the view of international cooperation on the subject, particularly, as far as the possibility of confiscating assets outside the country or in the country at another country’s request is concerned.  To this end, institutions such as the General Council of the Judiciary have worked along with the project team financed by the European Union and managed by FIIAPP.

The project has also worked on improving the management and running of hearings, mainly regarding preventive detention, as well as on other personal precautionary measures in cases of organised crime and corruption in the civil service.

The objective has been to strengthen the knowledge and skills of judges, prosecutors and police in this matter in order that they effectively fulfil their duties, as well as to develop guidelines that serve as a basis for the review and update of the current protocol on “specific inter-institutional action for the management and running of hearings”. The Spanish Ministry of the Interior and the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Peru participated in the activity.

The project also provided technical assistance to strengthen and coordinate the fight against money laundering with the aim of developing an investigation manual on the fight against money laundering.