THE GLOBE NETWORK IN CROSS-BORDER ASSET RECOVERY: INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN, LEGAL LIMITS AND REGIONAL COOPERATION

Abstract

This article examines the institutional design of the Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE Network) and its role in cross-border asset recovery. It combines doctrinal legal analysis, a structured comparison of GlobE, regional asset recovery inter-agency networks, INTERPOL and the Egmont Group, and secondary analysis of dated UNODC membership figures and a published Mongolian recovery case. The comparison covers mandate, information, procedural status, speed and recovery stages. Membership expansion demonstrates wider institutional coverage; the case illustrates the interaction of practitioner advice, national proceedings and asset management, without establishing GlobE’s independent causal effect. The article distinguishes informal intelligence from admissible evidence and enforceable recovery measures. For Uzbekistan and ARIN-WCA, it proposes clear referral responsibilities, safeguards for information use, ARIN-WCA’s application for observer status in GlobE, and a twelve-month evaluation pilot linking exchanges to documented procedural outcomes.