The United Nations Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, adopted resolution 2178 on 24 September 2014. This resolution requires States to, inter alia, ensure that they have in place laws that permit the prosecution of: a) FTF, b) those who wilfully fund or receive funds to finance the travel of FTF and c) those who wilfully facilitate the travel of FTF. It further calls upon States to enhance international, regional and sub-regional cooperation to prevent and suppress the
phenomenon of FTF, including to prevent the travel of FTF from or through their territories. This legal instrument, together with other relevant international and regional legal instruments, provides the basis for the development of this manual.

The Government of the United States of America generously provided UNODC with funding for the above-mentioned project, which led to the publication of this manual. The project built upon ongoing cooperation with Member States from the region relating to the development of an effective and a sustainable legal regime against FTF, based on the rule of law, due process, and human rights. In the course of the project, the UNODC team collaborated closely with the following institutions: School of Magistrates of Albania (Tirana); Judicial Academy of Serbia (Belgrade); Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors “Pavel Shatev” (Skopje); Centre for Judicial and Prosecutorial Training of the Federation
of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo); Centre for Judicial and Prosecutorial Training of the Republika Srpska (Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina); Judicial Commission of the Brčko District (Brčko District, Bosnia and Herzegovina); Academy of Justice (Pristina); and Judicial Training Centre of Montenegro (Podgorica). The team visited and interviewed judges, prosecutors and managers in the region, and trainers of the aforementioned judicial institutes. The discussions revolved around issues such as the type of terrorism and FTFrelated training currently provided, the extent and the nature of the FTF problem in the region, challenges of investigations, prosecutions and adjudication of FTF cases.
These discussions revealed four specific areas in which additional expertise is needed.

They are:
• The extent, structure and dynamics of the FTF phenomenon;
• The elements of the FTF-related offences;
• Investigation of the FTF offences, with special regard to online and financial
investigations;
• Human rights implications of the investigation and adjudication of FTF-related cases.

This manual will address the first three issues. The human rights aspect has already
been covered in the Counter-Terrorism Legal Training Curriculum Module 4 on Human
Rights and Criminal Justice Responses to Terrorism of the UNODC.