Caribbean Legal Experts Meet in Barbados to Advance JIT Framework for Financial Investigations and Asset Recovery

 

The RSS/IDB Legal Forum on Joint Investigation Teams for Financial Investigations and Asset Recovery in the Caribbean was held at The Hilton, Barbados.

Attorneys General, legal experts, prosecutors, policymakers, and regional security stakeholders from across the Caribbean gathered in Barbados over the past two days for a Legal Forum aimed at advancing the development of a regional model legal framework for Joint Investigation Teams (JITs) for Financial Investigations and Asset Recovery (FIAR) in the Caribbean.

This event was hosted by the Office of the Attorney General of Barbados, in collaboration with the Regional Security System (RSS) and the Inter-American Development Bank, as part of the ONE Caribbean programme.

The initiative seeks to strengthen regional cooperation in tackling transnational organised crime, particularly financial crimes and illicit asset movement, through coordinated investigative and prosecutorial efforts among Caribbean jurisdictions.

Highlighting the importance of the initiative, Executive Director of the RSS, Rear Admiral Errington Shurland, underscored the urgent need for innovative and collaborative responses to increasingly sophisticated criminal networks.

He noted that organised criminal networks continue to exploit jurisdictional gaps and evolving technologies, making stronger regional cooperation essential to preserving public safety and the rule of law.

“While crime is becoming increasingly transnational, our established systems are seriously lagging behind, hindered by bureaucratic processes, language barriers and differences in legal framework. These dynamics, while they signal the involvement of our criminal organisations/spaces in the illicit economy in other regions of the world, certainly make the case for enhanced, expedited international cooperation measures as an extremely viable approach to tackling the transnational nature of crime,” Rear Admiral Shurland stated.

According to the RSS head, JITs represent a transformative approach to cross-border criminal investigations by facilitating real-time evidence-gathering and information sharing, coordinated operational responses, and the pooling of expertise and resources among participating states towards successful prosecution.

“Strengthened international cooperation, through JITs offers a pathway to well-coordinated, effective, and resilient justice, ensuring that criminal enterprises find no safe haven in fragmented legal and operational systems. By embracing JITs, we send a clear message: the rule of law is not inhibited by borders, and our commitment to public safety is unyielding,” he asserted.

Chief of Operations at the Barbados Country Office of the Inter-American Development Bank, Francesco De Simone, noted that over the past year, the organisation had been in discussions with the Regional Security System and GovRisk on activities aimed at developing a model legal framework for undertaking JITs recognising the importance of coordinated regional action in addressing financial crime, corruption, and money laundering.

“Strengthening legal cooperation and improving the region’s ability to investigate and recover criminal assets are therefore critical priorities. For the IDB, this work aligns closely with our institutional values which places citizen security, institutional strengthening and regional cooperation at the centre of sustainable development… The Caribbean has demonstrated a growing commitment to deeper cooperation, stronger institutions and more coordinated responses to financial crime. The IDB is proud to be a part of this trajectory which fits in the framework of our ONE Caribbean Programme,” Mr. De Simone affirmed.

During the two-day forum, delegates engaged in discussions on the legal, operational, and institutional mechanisms required to establish effective JITs, while examining international best practices and opportunities for harmonised regional action.

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