El Basel Institute on Governance, como entidad internacional dedicada a promover la buena gobernanza y a combatir la corrupción, ha seguido de cerca los avances legislativos en materia de recuperación de activos en el Perú y en América Latina.

How to promote transparency in controls and inspections of timber products? Why are standardised processes and procedures key to preventing corruption in forest management? How to create awareness among forestry staff as well as local and Indigenous communities, encouraging them to play an active role in corruption prevention.

These are some of the questions discussed in a new series of videos that showcase promising initiatives in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.

See English version here.

Bolivia, Ecuador y Perú albergan algunos de los bosques más importantes del mundo, y la madera constituye un recurso natural de gran valor. Proteger estos bosques frente a las amenazas que representa la corrupción es fundamental no solo para preservar la biodiversidad y mitigar el cambio climático, sino también para salvaguardar los medios de vida de las comunidades locales.

Leer versión en español aquí

Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru are home to some of the world’s most important forests, and timber is a valuable natural resource. Protecting forests from threats posed by corruption is essential not only for protecting biodiversity and mitigating climate change, but also for protecting the livelihoods of local communities.

We are delighted that our highly successful programme to strengthen public finance management at the regional and local levels in Peru is entering its third four-year phase.

Funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) since 2013, the Programa GFP Subnacional aims to improve how public finances are managed and spent at the subnational level and to optimise the delivery of public services to Peruvian citizens.

Latin America has seen various legislative efforts in the fight against rampant economic and organised crime and in the endeavour to recover illicit assets relating to these crimes. Among theses efforts is a wide variety of non-conviction based (NCB) forfeiture regimes and applicable standards.

NCB forfeiture allows for the recovery of illicit assets autonomously, i.e. outside of criminal proceedings, through an independent judicial process that applies civil rules and is directed against the asset itself (in rem).

This Working Paper explores the wide variety of non-conviction based (NCB) forfeiture laws in Latin America, with a special focus on the region’s predominant model, Extinción de dominio.

It argues that NCB forfeiture legislation, which allows for the recovery of stolen assets outside of criminal proceedings, can contribute significantly to a state’s criminal policy response to rampant economic and organised crime.