The Bill on Forfeiture of Illegally Acquired Assets that was adopted in Bulgaria in 2012 turned out to be a most modern one. This was said during a conference entitled “Forfeiture of Illegally Acquired Assets – measures for combating crime in the EU. It was the closing event of a two-year-long initiative of Transparency International, conducted in partnership with the offices of the organisation in Romania and Italy.

“This is something relatively new for the whole of the EU and in the world as a whole,” said Dr. Kalin Slavov, Executive Director of Transparency International -Bulgaria. “It is about forfeiture of illegally acquired assets when there is no enforceable criminal conviction. This happens with a decision of a civil court, which means people have the right of protection in court. Also, civil rights will be strictly observed. Part of the results of our research showed that in order to create a perfect model of the mechanism for forfeiture of illegally acquired assets we need a court, and guaranteed right of protection, as well as right to prove the origin of property. Our goal is not only to present this model that can be adopted by the EU Member States, but also to point out specific measures that can be taken.”

According to Mr. Kalin Slavov, the Bulgarian law is much better in comparison to similar laws in other EU countries. The fundamental rights of property and court protection are guaranteed by the Bulgarian law.

"In addition to respect for human rights and the possibility of protection in court, an important issue becomes management of confiscated property. The Bulgarian law provides that a council of deputy ministers manage the property. Unfortunately, practice has shown this is not efficient. In the entire period since the law started being in force, the council has held just one meeting. This shows that it is not efficient. It is true that several governments have changed, but the way the council works shows political uncertainty. It must be much more active in making managerial decisions."

When it comes to the application of laws on forfeiture in the EU, Italy tops the chart, according to Kalin Slavov.

"In Italy the focus is put on the management of seized property. There is a special agency there responsible for that and it is working in a very transparent way. In shops one can see goods labelled “confiscated from mafia.” Confiscated buildings are often used for public and social activities, and people known from whom they were confiscated. The society needs confidence that it can combat these phenomena. The management of seized property is a very important issue. Colleagues from Italy have pointed out examples of confiscated commercial enterprises. They used to be well-working companies, because they were owned by the mafia and relied on its connections. These companies did not observe the laws and did not pay taxes or social insurance. When they get confiscated the management and the ways of work must change, and it turns out these enterprises cannot function under normal market rules. The issues are very complex and require daily work," says Executive Director of Transparency International – Bulgaria, Kalin Slavov.

English: Alexander Markov