Description

Indonesia faces serious challenges from corruption and embezzlement of public assets, with enormous negative impacts on its political, social and economic development. From 2001-2012, the total amount of stolen assets amounted to approximately US$ 554.89 billion. Most of these stolen assets are scattered around the world, making it a challenge for Indonesian authorities to recover them.

The situation is exacerbated as signed Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) and extradition treaties have not been effectively implemented.
Indonesian authorities are challenged by a lack of knowledge and expertise in the asset recovery system such as in terms of the capacity to initiate and conduct legal proceedings in domestic and foreign courts, as well as the ability to provide evidence or intelligence information to authorities in other jurisdictions for investigation.

The absence of a sound strategic plan within agencies and weak inter-agency coordination mechanisms have resulted in low achievements by Indonesian authorities in asset recovery. To address the above challenges, the Indonesian Attorney General’s Office has established the Asset Recovery Center (ARC). KEMITRAAN has been working with PPA to improve the effectiveness of cross-border asset recovery and MLA management by the AGO and other relevant agencies.

The program, named SIGAP, is implemented through 2 approaches: (1) capacity building of PPA and other relevant agencies, and (2) enhancing cooperation through regular coordination between the AGO and other relevant agencies.

Key Outcomes

The assessments and studies conducted within the framework of this program were used for policy advocacy, technical assistance and capacity building which led to the finalization of Attorney General Regulation PER-0217/A/JA/10/2014 on Asset Recovery Guidelines and PPA Strengthening Plan. The program also developed a digital coordination platform for asset recovery-related agencies called the Asset Recovery Portal, based on the aforementioned studies and assessments.

Judges at the Supreme Court and district courts, as well as staff from seven agencies benefited from peer-to-peer training on asset recovery as a result of the program’s strategy on capacity building of relevant agencies. Another achievement was the establishment of networks between the Indonesian government and various parties, both national and international, through the exchange of knowledge and experience during the implementation of the program.

Donor

International Development Law Organization (IDLO)

Project Period

June 2016-December 2018

Implementing Partner

Asset Recovery Center (PPA) of the Attorney General’s Office