The Judicial Cooperation Network for Central Asia and Southern Caucasus (CASC) was launched in 2014 by UNODC in cooperation with the governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The network brings together criminal justice practitioners appointed by central authorities of member countries, who serve as national contact points. The network is implemented by the Global Programme on Criminal Network Disruption (GPCD) under the Border Management Branch (BMB) in collaboration with the UNODC Regional Programme for Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus.
The CASC network is an informal mechanism aimed at strengthening judicial cooperation and combatting transnational organised and serious crime in the Central Asia and Southern Caucus region by facilitating of direct communication between central authorities/national competent authorities of the member countries. The overarching goals of the network are to facilitate judicial cooperation between jurisdictions (providing contacts, information, advice on the requirements of the respective jurisdiction etc.); train criminal justice practitioners on international cooperation in criminal matters and disseminate tools developed by UNODC.
Through the secretariat of the network, the members receive support on matters relative to mutual legal assistance and extradition on cross-border crime cases. Based on an informal mechanism of cooperation between nationally appointed contact points, which is complementary to conventional formal channels, the network aims to enable timely processing and execution of MLA and extradition requests.
Visit the CASC page on the UNODC website for more information.