Brussels, 07/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 7 May, the European Parliament's civil liberties committee adopted the draft report on the directive to make it easier for national authorities to freeze and confiscate criminals' assets. The committee also provided a negotiating brief to rapporteur, Monica Macovei (EPP, Romania).
MEPs approved the idea, by 46 votes to 7, with 3 abstentions, that goods and assets can be confiscated even if suspects have not yet been convicted, for example, when they are unable, due to death or illness etc. to attend their own trial. This provision was controversial and the subject of heated debate, particularly with regard to the principle of respect for fundamental rights. The committee finally indicated that, in order to be able to proceed to preventive confiscation, the court had to be certain about the criminal origins of the assets concerned and that the procedures should also be included in the framework of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The report indicated that confiscation without conviction is becoming more common in Italy, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria and Slovakia. The report adopted on Tuesday also validated the principle of extended confiscation, namely the confiscation of property based on specific facts, such as that the value of the property being disproportionate to the lawful income of the convicted person. The assets acquired by third parties could also be confiscated if the third party is aware of the illegal provenance of the assets or knew or had enough information to suspect that the assets were of illicit origin. These measures are expected to help improve the tracking of assets obtained from organised crime and make the fight against terrorism more efficient, explained the rapporteur. The report also focuses on the social re-use of confiscated assets, such as is the case in Italy. The European Commission presented its draft directive on 12 March 2012, at the request of the member states. (SP/transl.fl)