To View the Full Subscription to SEEL, Click Links Below:
Survey of East European Law (SEEL) (US Price)
Survey of East European Law (SEEL) (International Price)
Preview Page
Opinion on the Revised Draft Act on Forfeiture of Assets Acquired Through Criminal Activity or Administrative Violations of Bulgaria*
European Commission For Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission) CDL-AD(2011)023 Opinion no. 563/2009 Strasbourg, 20 June 2011
I. Introduction
1. In late 2009, the Bulgarian authorities prepared a new draft Law on Forfeiture in favour of the State of Illegally Acquired Assets (CDL(2010)002). The in-tended purpose of the Draft Law was to introduce a non-conviction based civil forfeiture, and therefore to enable the State to recover not only assets derived from criminal activities, but also all assets "illegally ac-quired" by a person, without requiring a criminal con-viction. This was presented as a measure to facilitate the fight against the tendency of organised criminal groups to use their resources to distance themselves from criminal activities and hide the illicit origin of their assets. This was a key issue in Bulgaria. Further to a request by the Permanent Representative of Bul-garia, the Venice Commission adopted an interim opin-ion on this draft Law in March 2010 (CDL-AD(2010)027). In its interim opinion, the Commission found that the draft Law presented a certain number of shortcomings and its implementation might result in the infringement of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Bulgarian Constitution and the European Conven-tion on Human Rights (hereinafter: "the ECHR").
2. After the adoption of this interim Opinion, the Commission engaged in an intense and fruitful cooper-
In this Issue:
Opinion on the Revised Draft Act on Forfeiture of Assets Acquired Through Criminal Activity or Administrative Violations of Bulgaria
The Publication of Commercial Court Decisions in the Western CIS
Russian Businessman Mikhail Khodorkovskiy’s Detention in Breach of the Convention
Speech of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum
The Trial of Yulia Tymoshenko
ECHR Judgment of Note: Punishment of Impeached President
REGIONAL DIGEST
About the Editor-in-Chief:
Michael Newcity, Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies, Duke University, Durham, NC
