Improvement of competences of justice professionals in investigating and prosecuting of economic and financial crimes in the Baltic States

ended

Project is aimed at strengthening cooperation and capacities in the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) for the professionals in the areas of investigation and prosecution of economic and financial crimes (EFC) which directly or indirectly have input on EU financial interests. Objectives -Effective investigation and prosecution of EFC; -Efficiency and quality of criminal proceeding in the area of EFC; -Strengthening cooperation between the Baltic States on pretrial investigation and prosecution levels. Beneficiaries Prosecutors and prosecutor assistants - 235, Pretrial investigation officers including Financial Intelligence Units (FIU), judges, representatives from national tax and audit authorities – 125. Activities -Practice oriented cross-border training activities with easy linguistic access aiming at strengthening competences of investigation and prosecution of EFC. -International conferences focusing on the best practice of investigation and prosecution of EFC in EU and other countries leading in this area. -Cross-border meetings and site visits to facilitate cooperation between the Baltic States, between the Baltic States and other EU countries and in order to improve methods of pretrial investigation and prosecution of EFC in line with the best practices in the EU and other countries; -Creation of a handbook and training materials; -Translation and adaptation of training materials to national settings; -Legal foreign language training to strengthen linguistic skills of prosecutors and prosecutor assistants specializing in investigation and prosecution of EFC. Outcome -Increased capacities of the professionals in the areas of investigation and prosecution of EFC; -Increased knowledge on EU criminal law and criminal instruments; -Improved mutual trust between the justice chain professionals in cross-border cooperation; -Improved linguistic skills of prosecutors and prosecutor assistants in the area of EFC.