Winner of the 2019 ResearchEdge Competition

Stefan will be presenting his work: "Beefing Up Asset Confiscation for 21st Century Challenges"

Many Latin American countries are introducing new asset confiscation laws as part of a larger reform to put an end to high levels of corruption. In Peru, for instance, the so called «Extinción de Dominio» has been introduced, which is intended to facilitate the confiscation of illicit assets considerably. Inter alia, no criminal conviction of the asset holder is required and the confiscation is totally independent from criminal proceedings. Furthermore, confiscation is not only available with regards to proceeds of crime, but also for unjustified increases in a person’s assets or for licit assets that were intermingled with illicit ones.
However, the aggressive nature of the Extinción de Dominio might lead to problems where the Latin American country needs to request mutual legal assistance in criminal matters (MLA) to achieve the confiscation of assets hidden in a foreign country. In Europe, where many of the tainted Latin American assets have traditionally reemerged, confiscations often follow more conservative concepts and MLA will generally only be provided unconditionally if the Latin American country’s confiscation procedure respects human rights, the rule of law and procedural guarantees. This research looks at whether the Extinción de Dominio complies with the international due process framework, with a special focus on the European Charter on Human Rights.