Participated by AG of Egypt..Saudi Attorney General inaugurates proceedings of 2nd annual meeting of Arab Association for Prosecutors in Jeddah
Ashraf AboArafe
Jeddah – His Excellency the Attorney General, Sheikh Saud bin Abdullah Al-Mujib, inaugurated Wednesday in Jeddah the second annual meeting of the Arab Association for Prosecutors, under the title “Financial fraud and cybersecurity issues, and their connection to transnational organized crime”, which will be held from 22-23 Rabi` al-Akhar of 1444 Hijri corresponding to November 16-17, 2022.
The meeting was attended by Their Excellencies, attorney generals, heads of public prosecutions and heads of Arab public prosecution authorities, from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, the Kingdom of Morocco, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Palestine, and the Republic of Sudan
Moreover, heads and representatives of a number of international organizations and regional counterpart entities, represented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the International Organization for Migration, the International Association of Prosecutors, and the European Union Agency “Eurojust” also took part in the meeting.
The workshop sessions will discuss the following main topics: the international legal framework for combating cross-border financial fraud crimes, and the best practices to address their development and methods of committing these crimes; modern methods used in committing transnational organized crimes, and the role of international organizations in combating them; the role of investigations in combating transnational organized crime, especially financial fraud crimes; the role of cybersecurity in reducing financial fraud crimes and modern investigation mechanisms in those crimes; and the experiences of participating countries in combating financial fraud crimes, and the role of cyber security in reducing them.
In his opening remarks, His Excellency the Attorney General, Sheikh Saud bin Abdullah Al-Mujib, said: “In light of the availability of modern means of communication and their speed and complexities, criminal justice investigation systems face major challenges, including the use of modern means of communication in criminal acts, and the criminals’ innovative methods that employ modern technologies to achieve their criminal intentions and goals, taking advantage of the world’s trend towards a collective economy and achieving economic communication and integration, especially with the commitment of the world to speeding up banking operations.”
He noted that speeding up banking operations is “linked to strengthening the advancement of countries’ financial sectors, and reducing the impact of relying on traditional cash transactions and the accompanying risks, and the facilitation of payment and collection procedures, which has produced great challenges in the field of financial fraud to become one of the top issues haunting societies, affecting their macro and micro economies.”
His Excellency stressed that data and information has become an important engine of the economy, especially with the increase in its value and flow, becoming an important part of the security of states and a pillar of their economies. “Public prosecution offices are concerned with anticipating this important global variant to protect the interests of countries, achieve justice and arrive at the correct legal description and adaptation,” he added.
His Excellency Counselor Hamada Al-Sawy, Attorney General of the Arab Republic of Egypt and President of the Arab Association for Prosecutors, said: “The most important goals of the association are to overcome the difficulties facing the strengthening of international judicial cooperation among its members; to propose mechanisms and means to overcome them; and to create channels of communication between public prosecutions and member public prosecution authorities to ensure a swift implementation of international obligations outlined in the relevant international and regional agreements.”
“To that end, a rapid and effective communication mechanism was established between those bodies by defining a scope of contact, which has contributed to closing several requests for international judicial cooperation in a distinguished manner and in an unprecedented way, making a great impact on combating all forms of crime, especially transnational organized crime,” Al-Sawy noted.
Al-Sawy, in his speech, pointed to the role of the association in developing the technical and administrative capabilities of members of the public prosecution offices of member states, especially in the field of immunizing and building evidence, procedures for prosecution and international cooperation, including tracking, seizing, freezing and confiscating criminal proceeds obtained from various crimes by holding several specialized training programs for members of the public prosecution offices at the association during the years 2021 and 2022.
For his part, His Excellency Dr. Ali bin Fadl Al-Buainain, Attorney General of the Kingdom of Bahrain and Secretary-General of the Arab Association for Prosecutors, stressed that: “Combating crime with both security and judicial measures calls for unifying regional efforts and developing the work methods at the prosecution offices to address the rapid development in crime. This requires logistical and intellectual support, through continuous training of members of the prosecution offices to keep abreast of the latest.”
He recommended creating an e-mail for each representative of the member states of the association to communicate and respond to requests for assistance at the appropriate speed, fill up any deficiencies, provide any clarifications, or remove any obstacles during the process of implementation.
Delivering a speech at the opening ceremony were representatives of the participating international bodies, including: Mr. Ladislav Hamran, President of the European Union Agency “Eurojust”, and Mr. Han Moraal, Secretary-General of the International Association of Prosecutors, Mr. Hatem Ali Mohamed, Regional Director of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GGC), Office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and Mr. Othman Fouad Belbeisi, Regional Director of the International Organization for Migration for the Middle East and North Africa. The officials all stressed the importance of holding the second annual meeting, and its pivotal role in strengthening international judicial and justice cooperation to combat transnational organized crime.
Members of the Arab Association for Prosecutors took a group photo before the workshops for the first day kicked off. During the first workshop entitled “the international legal framework for combating cross-border financial fraud crimes, and the best practices to address their development and methods of committing these crimes”, Ms. Marina Meyer, an expert from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime highlighted international legal frameworks that criminalize organized crimes of a transnational nature, especially financial fraud crimes and tackled best practices in different countries to address these crimes. During the second workshop, which was entitled “modern methods used in committing transnational organized crimes, and the role of international organizations in combating them”, Mr. Mohammed Amir Al-Zarqani, Head of Mission of the International Organization for Migration in the Kingdom of Bahrain, briefed the attendees on the most prominent methods used by those accused of committing transnational organized crimes, including crimes of human trafficking and smuggling of migrants, as well as the role of international organizations in combating these crimes.
Hosting the meeting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia comes as part of the commitment of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister to strengthening and developing relations with Arab countries and building bridges of ongoing communication to combat the dangers of transnational organized crime, especially their danger to the economies of individuals and society, in addition to emphasizing the need for judicial integration to achieve effective criminal justice, highlighting best practices to address the development and methods of committing these crimes, and tackling means of overcoming the difficulties that may face the strengthening of international judicial cooperation. 
It is worthy to note that the Arab Association for Prosecutors was established to maximize the benefit from the mechanisms of international judicial cooperation to achieve an effective prosecution process of all forms of crime and to enhance the technical and administrative capabilities of members of the public prosecution offices to combat crime, including terrorist crimes and their financing, all forms of transnational organized crime, crimes of corruption, money laundering, electronic (information) crimes and environmental crimes within the framework of upholding international instruments and covenants, especially those concerned with human rights. It also aims at encouraging legal dialogue and understanding between public prosecution offices to achieve effective justice that combats all forms of crime and underscoring the importance of exchanging experiences between the public prosecution offices of member states to enhance their capabilities.
