RECOVER Project

The project RECOVER aims to improve the implementation of the Regulation no. 1805/2018 (REG) on the mutual recognition of freezing and confiscation orders, as fundamental tool of cooperation in the fight against organized and economic crime.

RECOVER is the first impact assessment of the REG from the substantial criminal law view point. It creates a network of Prosecutors, Judicial and Asset Recovery Offices as well as universities in 10 EU Member States not only to detect and overcome the legal issues in the REG interpretation, but also to create the substantial conditions in implementing it in compliance with the rule of law, increasing mutual trust and harmonisation.

RECOVER consists of the following steps: establishing the REG subject matter by clarifying the concept of “proceedings in criminal matters” (art. 1 REG); identifying the forms of freezing and confiscation orders covered by the REG in each Member State, with the necessary safeguards; identifying the safeguards in the mutual recognition procedure; pointing out the main obstacles and legal issues in REG implementation and exchanging best practices; assessing the possibility in applying the REG to legal persons; focusing the legal and practical difficulties in asset recovery offices’ activities; promoting the efficient management of frozen assets, protection of victims’ rights and social reuse of confiscated assets.

These objectives will be realized through: the network of partner Member States, to be set up by desk analysis, national reports based on questionnaires, workshops; the involvement of non-partner Member States by interviews to experts, dissemination workshops, international seminars in the perspective of mutual learning as basis for the mutual trust. Best practices, guidelines, reform proposals will be collected in a comprehensive database at the disposal of all EU Member States for the REG’s successful application.

For the press releases about the recent events that are held, news and the updated comprehensive database where the main results of the Project so far are documented, please visit http://recover.lex.unict.it/.