Enhancing Integrity and Effectiveness of Illegal Asset Confiscation - European Approaches
On the November 28th 2014, Transparency International – Bulgaria will host a round-table discussion „European and National Challenges in the Management of Forfeited Assets”. The event will take place in “Sofia” conference hall of Grand Hotel Sofia, starting at 10:00 am.
Among the discussion participants will be the Chairperson of the Commission for Illegal Assets Forfeiture, members of the Interdepartmental Board for Forfeited Assets Management, as well as representatives from the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, appellate and regional courts, members of Parliament, diplomats, NGO sector and the media.
The subject of the discussion derives from the significant role of the management of confiscated assets in Bulgaria through the procedure of “civil confiscation”, as well as the series of deficiencies, which emerged in the analysis of the process. The discussion will also focus on the existing good practices in other European countries, which can be used in the process of fine-tuning of the Bulgarian model.
The event is part of the second stage of the activities under the Illegal Assets Confiscation Project – independent civil monitoring, taking place in the period between May 2014 and January 2015. The civil monitoring includes analysis of the work of institutions with responsibilities in the procedures for confiscation of illegal assets, in terms of transparency, accountability and integrity, as well as monitoring of legal cases on the subject. The monitoring is carried out by a single methodology within three EU member states – Bulgaria, Italy and Romania.
During the process of civil monitoring of the practices in the implementation of the new Forfeiture of Illegal Assets Act, the Bulgarian team held a series of expert meetings and interviews with representatives of the institutions. Significant deficits were identified in the stage of management of seized, as well as forfeited assets. Additional information on the analysis results of this specific activity, and the recommendations for overcoming of the outlined deficits can be accessed in the report by the experts of Transparency International – Bulgaria in the “Monitoring” section (Bulgarian language only).