Ideal Model for National Procedures for Confiscation/Forfeiture of Assets (common standards)
The European Union is in search of new means of countering crime and corruption. The objective is to find efficient measures for the confiscation of assets gained from criminal activities, based on the fact that the confiscation of assets is among the most effective means of discouraging organized crime.
In this context, Transparency International Romania, Bulgaria and Italy have launched on march 24th, 2015 the policy paper Confiscation of Criminal and Illegal Asseta European Perspectives in Combat Against Serious Crime and the comparative report Legislation meets Practice: National and European Perspectives in Confiscation and Forfeiture of Assets.
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The studies are the result of a comparative analysis of legislation and practices of confiscation of illegally obtained assets in Romania, Italy and Bulgaria and have been carried out with the support of the European Union, through the Prevention of and Fight against Crime Programme.
Based on the comparative report, the policy paper Confiscation of Criminal and Illegal Asseta European Perspectives in Combat Against Serious Crime elaborates the ideal model for national procedures regarding the confiscation and forfeiture of assets and proposes a series of common standards on EU level, in order to facilitate cooperation in cases of trans-national criminality, a growing problem in the context of globalisation. We propose a series of reccomendations regarding the institutional framework, the scope of the non-conviction based confiscation and the management of frozen and confiscated property, as well as the mutual recognition of ‚civil confiscation‘ orders within the EU.
The policy paper also presents an ideal model for national procedures, illustrated in the image below. The model is based on the protection of human rights and common European standards and follows four fundamental principles: integrity, transparency, accountability and efficiency.
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The comparative report Legislation meets Practice: National and European Perspectives in confiscation and Forfeiture of Assets presents a model for civil monitoring of the activities of national authorities with attributions in the field of asset recovery. This model could be used by non-governmental organizations in any country. We consider the confiscation of illegally gained assets to be the responsibility of the state towards its citizens. At the same time, it is our duty to act together for ensuring its proper functioning.
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download The comparative report Legislation meets Practice: National and European Perspectives in confiscation and Forfeiture of Assets |
The comparative report Legislation meets Practice: National and European Perspectives in confiscation and Forfeiture of Assets presents a model for civil monitoring of the activities of national authorities with attributions in the field of asset recovery. This model could be used by non-governmental organizations in any country. We consider the confiscation of illegally gained assets to be the responsibility of the state towards its citizens. At the same time, it is our duty to act together for ensuring its proper functioning.