The Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia, Anna Vardapetyan, participated in the 36th session of the Coordinating Council of Prosecutor Generals of the CIS member states today, in online format. The Prosecutor's Office informs that within the framework of the first question on the agenda RA General Prosecutor Anna Vardapetyan made a speech on "Modern challenges and new solutions in the sphere of illegal property return from abroad". Anna Vardapetyan noted that the cross-border nature of modern crime creates new challenges for states. illegally acquired assets (property) can be transferred to different countries, registered as affiliates � in the name of persons and transformed into other types of property. "Under these conditions, the return of assets should be considered as a complex process, from their discovery and tracing to freezing or confiscation, judicial investigation, confiscation, management and actual return," emphasized the RA Prosecutor General and to add that the impossibility of criminal prosecution should not automatically mean the impossibility of returning illegally acquired property. In this context, the Prosecutor General of the Republic referred to the mechanism of non-conviction based asset forfeiture. Anna Vardapetyan presented Armenia's experience, noting that in 2020, with the adoption of the law "On confiscation of property of illegal origin", a legal basis was formed for the return of illegally acquired property. to apply that mechanism. Emphasizing the effectiveness of international legal mutual assistance in this context, the Prosecutor General of RA emphasized that international cooperation should begin at the stage of asset discovery and tracing, making possible its operative � Seizure, confiscation and custody until the end of the national judicial process. Anna Vardapetyan also referred to the significance of the Warsaw Convention of the Council of Europe and its additional protocol adopted in 2026, emphasizing that the General Prosecutor's Office of RA took a direct part in the development of the protocol. their representatives. The Prosecutor General of RA also presented the problems arising in the course of international cooperation, related to the differences between the legal systems of different states, the absence of similar civil confiscation mechanisms. period, as well as with restrictions on further use of information obtained informally as evidence. In this regard, Anna Vardapetyan emphasized the further development of international cooperation, highlighting the rapid exchange of information on assets, the improvement of the mechanisms of operative freezing and confiscation of property, international Ensuring the possibility of mutual legal assistance until the final court decision, mutual recognition and execution of judicial acts, as well as effective management of confiscated assets. Summing up, Anna Vardapetyan noted that the return of assets today is no longer only a matter of confiscation of property after the end of the criminal process. "This is a complex process that begins with the discovery of the asset, its location, tracking, and ends with the actual return of the asset. Our general goal is to ensure that there is no legal vacuum between the discovery of the asset and its actual return," said the RA Prosecutor General.