Southeast European Law Enforcement Center (SELEC) was created following the transformation of the SECI Southeast European Center for Combating Trans-border Crime, which was established in 1999, in Bucharest. The legal basis for this was the signing of the SELEC Convention (Bucharest, 1 December 2009). The Convention entered into force on 7 October 2011, and the depositary for the Convention is Romania.

The seat of SELEC is located in Bucharest.

The SELEC Convention provides a broader legal basis for enhanced regional cooperation in carrying out investigations and court proceedings and providing the prerequisites which would significantly increase the Centre's legal powers in combating trans-border organized crime, terrorism and trafficking in human beings and goods. SELEC establishes and develops mechanisms based on cooperation among member States in law enforcement, which they will be able to continue to use for the purpose of providing mutual assistance and support in the prevention, identification and application of legal mechanisms for the punishment of trans-border crime. The Centre also provides assistance to the member States in order to align their respective law enforcement legislation with the EU standards and requirements. The Centre supports the efforts of the member States aimed at improving cooperation among the institutions in charge of law enforcement.

SELEC ensures prompt and continued exchange of information among the member States relating to criminal investigation. It also supports their requests for operational assistance, as appropriate. Strategic analyses are prepared by the Centre, too.

The elections for the new SELEC Director General were held on 12th December 2017 during the 16th Session of the SELEC Council. Ms. Snejana Maleeva, representative of the Republic of Bulgaria and former Director for Legal and Internal Affairs of SELEC, was elected Director General. With her election for Director General, the position of Director for Legal and Internal Affairs became vacant. The position of Director for Operations of SELEC is held by the representative of Romania Mr. Romulus Ungureanu, after the election that took place in May 2015.

Signatory States to the SELEC Convention are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, R. Bulgaria, R. Croatia, Greece, Hungary, R. Macedonia, R. Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, R. Serbia and R. Turkey.

Read more about SELEC at: http://www.selec.org/