JUST-SHARE
Judicial Synergies for Transnational Seizure, Harmonised Asset Recovery and Enforcement
About the Project
JUST-SHARE – Judicial Synergies for Transnational Seizure, Harmonised Asset Recovery and Enforcement is a project co-funded by the European Union under the EU Justice Programme, aimed at strengthening judicial cooperation in criminal matters across Europe, with a specific focus on cross-border asset recovery and confiscation of criminal proceeds.
The project supports the EU’s strategic priority to fight organised crime by targeting its financial foundations, ensuring that criminal assets are effectively traced, frozen, confiscated and returned, regardless of where they are hidden.
JUST-SHARE is implemented by a high-level international consortium composed of:
- Fondazione SAFE (Italy) – Project Coordinator
- Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI) – Intergovernmental regional organisation
- Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) – Bulgaria
with the support of:
- Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights
- Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Bulgaria
The project is further supported by the Camden Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network (CARIN) and the Balkan Asset Management Interagency Network (BAMIN), two of the most important global practitioner networks in the field of asset recovery.
JUST-SHARE brings together judicial authorities, Asset Recovery Offices (AROs), Asset Management Offices (AMOs) and Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) from EU Member States and Western Balkan countries participating in the EU Justice Programme, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova and Ukraine, with wider engagement from neighbouring European and partner countries.
Objectives and Approach
JUST-SHARE responds to one of the EU’s most pressing rule-of-law challenges: despite strong legislation, only a small share of criminal profits in Europe is actually confiscated, mainly due to fragmented cooperation, legal differences and lack of trust between authorities across borders.
The project therefore focuses on strengthening how judicial and law-enforcement bodies work together throughout the entire asset-recovery chain, from investigation and seizure to confiscation and asset management.
JUST-SHARE pursues three core objectives:
- Improving understanding of how judicial authorities, AROs, AMOs and LEAs cooperate in practice in national and cross-border asset recovery
- Strengthening inter-agency and international cooperation and trust between these bodies
- Raising awareness at practitioner and policy level about the importance of effective judicial cooperation in asset recovery
To achieve this, the project combines comparative research, practitioner exchanges, joint guidelines and regional networking, while fully integrating gender equality and non-discrimination across all activities.
Expected Outcomes
JUST-SHARE will deliver concrete and lasting improvements in Europe’s ability to recover criminal assets:
- Stronger cooperation between judges, prosecutors, AROs, AMOs and law-enforcement agencies across borders
- Harmonised approaches and shared standards for asset recovery across the judicial supply chain
- Better policy and operational guidance, helping national authorities align their practices with EU standards
- Greater transparency and accountability in how criminal assets are managed and returned
Target Groups
The primary beneficiaries of JUST-SHARE are:
- Judicial authorities (judges and prosecutors)
- Asset Recovery Offices (AROs)
- Asset Management Offices (AMOs)
- Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs)
from EU Member States and Western Balkan Justice Programme countries.
The project also engages policymakers, practitioner networks, research institutions and international organisations active in the fields of justice, security and anti-corruption.
Strategic Importance
Organised crime operates across borders, but justice systems still work largely at national level. This gap allows criminal assets to disappear, be laundered, or reinvested into further crime.
JUST-SHARE directly supports the EU’s Rule of Law Agenda, the EU Strategy to Tackle Organised Crime and the EU Asset Recovery Framework by strengthening judicial cooperation between the EU and the Western Balkans and helping partner countries align with the EU acquis.
By building trust, shared standards and practical cooperation, JUST-SHARE contributes to safer societies, stronger justice systems and greater public confidence in the rule of law across Europe.
Partners and Collaboration
JUST-SHARE combines EU-level expertise, regional political ownership and frontline practitioner networks.
RAI plays a central role by connecting justice institutions across Southeast Europe, supporting regional cooperation and ensuring that the project’s results reach national authorities, policymakers and anti-corruption stakeholders throughout the region.
Together with Fondazione SAFE, CSD, CARIN and BAMIN, the project creates a powerful platform for sustainable, cross-border cooperation in asset recovery and the fight against organised crime.