GIABA Holds Seminar On Corruption, Money Laundering And Terrorist Financing For West African Judges

The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) organizes a 5-day Regional Capacity Building Seminar on Corruption, Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing for Judges from Anglophone West African countries on 22-26 July 2013 in Accra, Ghana. The countries that will benefit from the seminar include the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

The objective of the 5-day seminar is to bring together judges who are involved in the adjudication of corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing cases, in order to foster experience sharing with counterparts in West Africa, with a view to promoting better understanding of the international legislative framework related to these phenomena. The seminar is targeted at superior court judges that handle or are likely to handle economic and financial crime cases particularly, terrorist financing matters.

Seminars organized by GIABA in the past focused broadly on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing. However, in view of the growing incidence of terrorism and its financing in the region, it has become important to place more emphasis on the terrorist financing component and address the knowledge gaps in this area.

The seminar will examine the role of judges in implementing targeted financial sanctions pursuant to the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions. The seminar will also examine the role of judges in responding to international freezing requests and consider ways to ensure effective and speedy adjudication of economic and financial crime cases. Discussions will draw on experiences and identify some best practice models within the judicial systems.

Within the framework of its mandate to support member States in the implementation of AML/CFT measures of acceptable international standards, GIABA has since 2008 been organizing Regional Capacity Building Seminars on Economic and Financial Crime for judges. About two hundred and eighty (280) judges, responsible for the adjudication of cases involving money laundering and terrorist financing in their respective countries have benefited from the programs.

These seminars were organized primarily, to enhance the capacity of the judges to deal with substantive legal issues relating to anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). As with past seminars, this seminar will be delivered by technical experts through presentations, case reviews, panel discussions and presentation of country experiences.

It is expected that at the end of the seminar, the judges' capacity to effectively handle economic and financial crime cases, particularly matters relating to terrorist financing, will improve.