EU law does not prevent Member States from planning for civil procedures for the confiscation of property, which are not conditional on a criminal offence being established or the perpetrators being convicted of such an offence, according to a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Thursday 19 March (Case C-234/18).
In the context of a reference for a preliminary ruling submitted by the Sofia City Court, the Court was asked to determine whether a procedure for the confiscation of property - allegedly acquired illegally - brought before a civil court under Bulgarian law and conducted independently of possible criminal proceedings against the alleged perpetrator and his possible conviction is compatible with EU law.
In its judgment, the Court examines the applicability of Council Framework Decision 2005/212/JHA and finds, first of all, that the purpose of the Framework Decision is to oblige Member States to establish common minimum rules for the confiscation of crime-related instrumentalities and proceeds, with a view to facilitating the mutual recognition of judicial decisions on confiscation adopted in the framework of criminal proceedings.
According to the Court, the Framework Decision therefore does not govern the confiscation of instrumentalities and proceeds, ordered in the context of or following proceedings not related to the establishment of one or more criminal offences, as in the present case.
Nevertheless, it concludes that the Framework Decision does not preclude national legislation which provides that a court may order the confiscation of illegally acquired property without that procedure being subject to a finding of a criminal offence or a criminal conviction.
See judgment: https://bit.ly/3dbHGyI (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)