Barrier 3: Deficient Resources The study team’s work with practitioners confirmed that originating and requested jurisdictions often do not commit sufficient resources to providing assistance in asset recovery cases. Developed- and developing-country practitioners affirmed that competent authorities in both areas of the world are inadequately staffed, insufficiently trained, and inexperienced in dealing with MLA requests pertaining to the asset recovery processes. In addition, when more than one agency is involved, the specific roles and functions of agencies and departments involved are often poorly defined. A European study focusing on 21 EU states described the working methods of some competent authorities as inert, nontransparent, or unclear, and found that one of the most important obstacles to cooperation was the lack of qualified investigators. According to this study, the lack of qualified personnel to conduct financial investigations stemmed from a lack of financial resources, the failure of political or law enforcement leadership to prioritize financial investigations, and general personnel issues such as difficulty recruiting qualified and experienced investigators. This study also found evidence of insufficient prosecutorial resources for asset recovery work, a lack of relevant knowledge, and inadequate training of prosecutors and judges.30 Jurisdictions should avoid these problems by dedicating the necessary resources to train and staff central authorities, financial investigators, prosecutors, judges, and other competent authorities involved in asset recovery issues.31 Specialized agencies or units within existing agencies should be given the resources to satisfy their mandate to facilitate asset recovery, keeping in mind that central authorities themselves are often not directly involved in financial investigations or in asset recovery initiatives but are primarily administrative authorities. Efforts to recover stolen assets are often expensive and may fail to yield results. In many jurisdictions, particularly those that are developing countries, dedicated resources for asset recovery are scarce. Some requested jurisdictions with greater resources have assisted such jurisdictions with legal costs and civil fees, enabling asset recovery to proceed. Other countries have special funds in place to provide mutual legal assistance to jurisdictions with resource issues. Developed countries with greater resources should consider implementing such a fund or providing financial assistance on a case-by-case basis to help developing countries mitigate their resource problems. In addition, assets repatriated from successful recoveries could be designated or used by the originating country to expand the expertise of its recovery units. Jurisdictions that provide other assistance through multilateral organizations can also include assistance for asset recovery through those efforts. In some requested jurisdictions, particularly small jurisdictions with more limited budgets, resource issues are also a significant problem. Requested jurisdictions may be willing to help with drafting requests for mutual legal assistance and other processes, 30. Matthias Borgers and Hans Moors, “Targeting the Proceeds of Crime: Bottlenecks in International Cooperation,� European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice 15, no. 2 (2007), pp. 10, 42, 43. 31. In November 2009 the Conference of State Parties to UNCAC called on States parties to ensure that competent authorities have adequate resources to execute requests. See www.unodc.org/unodc/en /treaties/ CAC/CAC-COSP.html.
General Barriers and Institutional Issues
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