Tools and challenges for prioritizing criminal finance investigations

• In Event: Roundtable: Sharing Experiences of Applied Research for Prosecution Offices' Development in Latin America.

Abstract

The idea that it is possible to prioritize and focus criminal investigations has been gaining ground in recent years in Latin America, especially in Chile and Colombia, which have had explicit prioritization policies in place for years. However, these reflections have focused mainly on the investigation and prosecution of violence, or on procedures for the standardization of files or dismissals, and much less on the possibility of developing criminal investigation of criminal finances with a strategic vision of targeting.
This work explores, on the one hand, some elements of criminal investigation of criminal finance that suggest that there is plenty of room for prioritization in this area, and on the other hand, some specific tools that have been implemented with the aim of realizing this purpose. In a cross-cutting manner, we will reflect on the criminal policy objectives, and the challenges and limits that can be expected from the criminal prosecution of criminal finances. The proposal is to include the interventions and experiences of judicial operators, researchers and criminal policy makers.

Author

• Juanita Duran Velez, Laboratorio de Justicia y Política Criminal