Frequently Asked Questions

The countries are encouraged to encode the statistical information retroactively going back to 2015 if information from previous years is available, as this will allow the reconstruction of trends over a longer period.
They are requested to do so at least as from 2018.

For the tracking of cases on organised crime, high level corruption and money laundering, the starting date for reporting is 1 January 2022.
This means that the data feeding entails the creation of a tracking sheet for every case that is “active” after such date. For example, if a sentence for a case occurred in January 2022, it should be reported, even if the investigations may have started three years before.

The cut-off date to encode data into the yearly quantitative overview is 30 June 2025, for data covering the previous year (e.g., on 30 June 2025 at the latest, all data for the year 2024 must have been encoded).

By 30 June 2025, all cases that have been finalised in year N-1 need to have been encoded, as well as all new cases for which an investigation has started.
It is important to regularly update the case-tracker to allow for a qualitative assessment to be conducted.

High-level corruption cases correspond:

• to the cases defined as such by the national legislation

  When a special prosecution office exists for corruption, not all cases falling under their mandate should automatically be encoded in the platform. It is important to ensure that only high-level corruption cases as defined by national legislation or falling under the definition provided are encoded in the platform
• or, if there is not such legislation, to the following cases:
  • High-ranking or high profile elected/appointed public office holders

    For example: heads of State, heads of government(s), ministers and deputy or assistant ministers; members of parliament or equivalent legislative bodies; members of the governing bodies of political parties; mayors of the capital city/ main cities or municipalities/ district in each beneficiary country; highest ranking officials of federal units.
  • High-ranking civil servants and high-ranking members of the law enforcement, prosecution, or judiciary

    For example: heads and deputy heads of institutions, bodies and administration (such as taxation administration, law enforcement agencies, intelligence agency, central bank; army; embassies); members of supreme courts, of constitutional courts or of other high-level judicial bodies administrating the judiciary, the decisions of which are subject to further appeal only in exceptional circumstances; and prosecutors working in prosecutors’ offices corresponding to these high level judicial bodies president of courts; members of judicial or prosecutorial council.
  • Heads of major public or semi-public companies

    For example: directors of companies in strategic sectors such as electricity, telecommunications, water, etc., where the State is the owner or a major stakeholder.

In federal constitutional structures, this list includes both the central state and lower level of governments.

In addition, countries are invited to also report cases of corruption involving defendants who may not strictly fall under the above categories but are involved in investigations/cases that can be considered to still be of high-level nature (e.g., due to particularly high amount of the bribes, the extent of the damages to public interest stemming from the contested crimes, or the overall political repercussions, etc.).

Organised crime cases should be reported

• based on the definition thereof in the respective criminal code of each country and more specifically the article(s) in the national legislation that correspond(s) with the definition of “organised criminal group” according to article 2 of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC): “a structured group of three or more persons, existing for a period of time and acting in concert with the aim of committing one or more serious crimes or offences established in accordance with this Convention, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit”.
• cases tried under special legislation that can be assimilated to organised crime (i.e., anti-mafia laws, criminal codes articles on the “thieves in law” phenomenon) should be reported as organised crime cases.

The following offences on the misuse, trafficking and illegal manufacturing of firearms, their essential components and ammunition should be reported:

• the illicit manufacturing of firearms, their essential components and ammunition;
• the illicit trafficking of firearms, their essential components and ammunition;
• the falsification or illicitly obliteration, removal, or alteration of the marking(s) on firearms and essential components;
• the attempt to commit or participate as an accomplice in an offence established in accordance with offences 1,2 or 3;
• the roles of organizing, directing, aiding, abetting, facilitating or counselling the commission of any of the offences 1,2 or 3;
• the illegal possession of firearms, their essential components and ammunition;
• the above actions, committed in the context of a terrorist offence; and
• the above actions, committed in the context of an offence of organised crime.

As defined under each national criminal code, the following offences related to illegal drug (including their analogues, precursors or new psychoactive substances) should be reported:

• the production, manufacture, extraction, preparation, offering, offering for sale, distribution, sale, delivery on any terms whatsoever, brokerage, dispatch, dispatch in transit, transport, importation or exportation of drugs;
• the cultivation of opium poppy, coca bush or cannabis plant;
• the possession or purchase of drugs with a view to conducting one of the activities listed in the first point;
• the manufacture, transport or distribution of precursors, knowing that they are to be used in or for the illicit production or manufacture of drugs;

Should not be reported in the platform, the offences listed above when committed by the perpetrator for its own personal use, as defined under national legislation.

Yes, when an individual/entity is investigated, indicted, a final court decision and/or a final conviction is issued for multiple serious crimes that are listed in the annual overview, the case should be encoded in the tab pertaining to the highest offence under the criminal code.
E.g.:

• if an individual/entity is tried and sentenced for organised crime, as the main focus of the indictment, but also for trafficking in human being and cybercrime; the case should be reported under the organised crime tab only.
• if a case involves an indictment for organised crime, this should always be considered as the highest offence. In the case of multiple convictions, including for organised crime, please also add data on the number of convictions for predicate offences under the organised crime tab.

No, the amount reported should not cover cases where drugs were seized in small amounts, from private individuals for personal consumption, when the case cannot be considered as a production or trafficking offence.

Please report on the aggregated amount of herbal and resin cannabis seized.

No, only the amount of drugs seized in-land and at the border should be reported upon.

After the cut-off date (30 June each year), the data in the yearly overview should not be modified by the data feeders/national coordinators, unless the Commission receives a specific request to modify/update when the country submits its final national update for the progress report around the end of summer. Indeed, the system will be frozen and no modifications will be allowed from 1 July to 31 august of each year.
Of course, in case of mistakes identified after this date, a request can be made to the Commission/JRC.

In such case, the date of the first indictment can be encoded as reference also in the box for the date of the closure of investigation.

In complex cases, when there are two or more indicted individuals/legal entities for which the indictments are eventually lodged in different dates by the prosecution, the date of the first indictment should be indicated.

When several individuals have been convicted to a prison sentence, the indicative months corresponding to all prison sentences should be summed up and indicated in the box.

The field “total months of imprisonment” should reflect the sum of months of imprisonment for all convicted individuals.

The “decision not to indict” box should only be checked when this decision applies to all individuals/entities investigated. In other cases, we will know how many persons investigated were not indicted by deducting the number of persons indicated from the number of persons investigated.

All sanctions can be added up.

Yes. It is possible for the national coordinator to submit a request for the Commission/JRC to reopen a case tracker sheet that was previously finalised.