From 16 to 18 May 2024, the European Development Academy held the first in-person implementation session of a broader blended, multi-modular capacity-building programme on financial investigation and confiscation of criminal assets for Macedonian authorities. The current implementation cycle combines self-paced online learning, guided assignments, live online support, and three in-person implementation sessions. The programme also generates a reusable national course package and implementation tools that support continued institutional learning and practice after the initial cycle.
The May session in Kavadarci and Demir Kapija brought together prosecutors from the Basic Skopje Prosecutor’s Office, representatives of the customs authority, and police officers from the Republic of North Macedonia. Slovenian experts Damjana Slapar Burkat, Marjana Grašič, and Jože Levašič contributed practical expertise in financial investigations and the identification of property of illicit origin. Dr Tatjana Dragovič Andersen supported the programme from the perspective of adult education and training management.
This implementation session opened a wider learning pathway designed to strengthen how Macedonian authorities identify financially relevant cases, open and conduct financial investigations, improve reporting for prosecutorial use, strengthen inter-institutional escalation, and support stronger confiscation outcomes. The programme connects online preparation, case-based assignments, live clarification, and in-person practical work into one coherent structure.
The discussions focused on the legal and procedural framework for confiscation and extended confiscation, the identification of property of illicit origin, and the practical challenges that arise in current financial-investigation work. Participants worked through ongoing case-related obstacles, exchanged good practices, and explored solutions that support stronger cooperation between prosecutors, customs, police, financial police, and other competent authorities.
A key learning theme of the wider programme is the distinction between investigation of the predicate offence, parallel or integrated financial investigation linked to a particular offence, and financial investigation conducted for the purposes of extended confiscation. This distinction helps participants choose the appropriate investigative path, structure reporting more clearly, and connect operational findings with the most effective confiscation route.
The workshop also included discussion of the possible involvement of a Slovenian oncology expert in a fraud-related case. The purpose of that expert input would be to clarify the sector-specific background of the suspected offence, support understanding of the fraud mechanism, and help investigators identify the financial benefit and assets connected to the case. This discussion reflected one of the programme’s core aims: connecting understanding of the predicate offence with stronger financial-investigation logic and more effective confiscation-oriented action.
Across the programme, participants move through a blended sequence of online learning, live clarification, case-based assignments, and in-person practical sessions. The methodology is case-based, multi-institutional, and performance-oriented. Participants develop shared legal and procedural understanding, practise case screening and opening logic, improve prosecutor-use reporting, strengthen referral and escalation practice, and build outputs that support day-to-day work in their institutions.
This first implementation session marked the launch of a structured capacity-building pathway that strengthens cross-institutional financial-investigation practice in North Macedonia and supports continued national learning, adaptation, and reuse in the years ahead.
