The Participation of the Director General of the Central Anti-Corruption Office (O.C.R.C), in the meetings of the subsidiary working groups of the Conference of States Parties (COSP) to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).

September 4 - 8, 2023

From September 04 to 08, 2023, the three Open-ended Intergovernmental Subsidiary Working Groups of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, in charge of implementation review, international cooperation, and asset recovery held their periodic meetings at the headquarters of the United Nations in Vienna (Austria).

Besides, Algeria has participated in these meetings (in-person and online) with a delegation that included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, Ministry of Interior, local collectivities, and Territory planning, Ministry of Justice, the High Authority for Transparency, Prevention and Fight against Corruption, the Central Anti-Corruption Office (O.C.R.C), the Algerian Financial Intelligence Unit (C.T.R.F), the National Gendarmerie Command, and the General Directorate of National Security.

Indeed, these meetings were an opportunity to present the Algerian experience and the efforts made to fight against corruption, through the presentations of the Algerian delegation members, who talked about the recent relevant legal amendments, as well as the national strategy that was adopted and launched in July 2023.

The director general of the OCRC, Mr. Mokhtar LAKHDARI, was invited to participate as a panelist in a round table on technical assistance and asset recovery. Where he presented the progress made by Algeria, since the ratification of the Convention, and the participation in the two peer review cycles as well as the challenges it faces, particularly in terms of mutual legal assistance.

Recalling the context of the fight against corruption, since 2019, he emphasized on the importance of international cooperation in locating and identifying the proceeds of corruption. In addition, he highlighted the practical aspects in more detail. Also, he provided information on the number of legal assistance requests addressed to foreign authorities, the acts required, the typology of corruption and the processes used to transfer and launder the proceeds of corruption abroad, the location countries, and the difficulties facing international cooperation .He underlines the efforts made by Algeria to overcome the obstacles, in particular, through direct contacts with the competent foreign authorities, joining GlobE Network and technical assistance provided by StAR initiative.

As a result, a summary of the working groups will be presented and discussed during the tenth session of The Conference of the States Parties (COSP), which will be held in Atlanta (Georgia), the United States of America, December 11-15, 2023.

 In the margins of these meetings, an information session was organized by the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR), attended by the Director General of the OCRC, who stressed the need to find innovative solutions to the difficulties encountered by many countries in recovering assets.