Skopje, 24 November 2023 (MIA) - The objective of introducing the Law on Confiscation of Assets in Civil Proceedings, for which a public discussion took place Friday in the MPs Club, is to prevent the disposal of assets that cannot be proven to have been acquired through legal means, particularly aiming at preventing criminal activities associated with organized crime and corruption.

Deputy Prime Minister in charge of good governance policies, Slavica Grkovska, highlighted at the event that the introduction of such a legal solution is necessary in our system as an additional anti-corruption mechanism. She pointed out that existing practices reveal insufficient sanctions for corrupt and criminal activities, even in cases where wrongdoing is evident and assets are disproportionate to legally acquired income.

“We are a small country with many public secrets and very few resolutions. This contributes to an even greater sense of powerlessness among ordinary citizens and drastically shifts the key values in the community. So, we find ourselves in situations where those openly showcasing the gains from their criminal activities become role models for our youth. And precisely this factual situation should be our greatest motivation to improve our approach and mechanisms in dealing with corruption and organized crime and to introduce concrete tools through which this fight will become more successful with visible results,” Grkovska added.

Highlighting the benefits of the law, Deputy PM Grkovska underscored that it does not replace confiscation in criminal proceedings but serves as an additional supportive tool and mechanism. She added that it is particularly important that the law provides the possibility for confiscated property in civil proceedings to be utilized for meeting social needs and goals within society.

The introduction of this law, as said by the representative from the Ministry of Justice, Nikola Prokopenko, is part of a comprehensive set of laws currently being developed within the Ministry of Justice.

According to Prokopenko, this encompasses the new Criminal Code, additional amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code, and particularly significant legal measure in this direction is the Asset Recovery Law and the establishment of the Asset Recovery Office. Prokopenko underscored that all these components are vital pillars in the fight against organized crime.

“The primary objective of these standards is to attain, as consistently highlighted in the documents of the Council of Europe, a specific balance. This balance is sought between effectively addressing organized crime on one hand and ensuring the efficient protection of human rights on the other,” he noted.

After presenting the draft law, international standards, and comparative experiences, an open discussion on the proposed legal solution will follow. During this discussion, the expert community will have the chance to contribute their proposals and suggestions, the government said in a press release.

The initiation of the proposal for the Law on Confiscation of Assets in Civil Proceedings involved creation of a draft text based on a feasibility study and an analysis of confiscation conditions and models in contemporary legal systems. This was prepared in collaboration with the Office for Good Governance Policies in partnership with the Council of Europe. Based on this, the formal working group drafted the proposed law, which is the subject of today's public discussion. The preparation of the new legal solution is already part of the Roadmap for the Rule of Law, from Cluster 1 – Fundamentals, and its implementation is monitored by the European Commission.

Photo: MIA