Asset recovery

The ability to recover illicit assets without a criminal conviction is an essential tool in the fight against corruption – where perpetrators may have fled or be dead, and where evidence that reaches a criminal standard of proof is hard to gain.

Extinción de dominio, a non-conviction based confiscation law in Peru that we helped to introduce in 2018, is leading to rapid progress in asset recovery capabilities at both the international and domestic levels.

At the transnational level, our International Centre for Asset Recovery is supporting some of Peru’s – and the region’s – most complex, multi-year cases involving individuals at the highest levels of state. The team’s financial analyses and assistance with legal strategies and mutual legal assistance have broken new ground in many of these cases.

At the domestic level, through our Swiss SECO-financed Public Finance Management programme, we provide technical assistance and training on the law to specialised Public Prosecutor’s Offices. The legal strategies that we jointly developed in 16 high-profile cases at the subnational level have led to the recovery of significant quantities of assets and a promising pipeline.

In our efforts to catalyse learning, we have also brought together specialised prosecutors and judges from across the country to share experiences and harmonise the application of this law in line with fundamental human rights and standards of due process.