The property of the corrupt must be confiscated

Prishtina, April 22, 2011- Movement FOL today published “The Analysis on the legal framework against property acquired illegally,” which addresses the lack of appropriate legislation for the confiscation of property gained illegally in Kosovo and which is very important in the fight against organized crime and corruption. The justice against those who misuse money of Kosovo citizens is done only when they are imprisoned and the property acquired illegally is confiscated.

Venera Ramaj, research in Movement FOL stressed that the institutions neglect to enforce the existing legislation in the field of confiscation of the property. It”s been more than a year since the law has become applicable and we haven”t noticed a serious commitment to implementing the Law on Administration of Confiscated and Seized Property, said Mrs. Ramaj. In addition, the primary problem for implementation of the law is the lack of a fundamental law that would oblige the authorities to confiscate the property acquired illegally, making it an integral part of the investigation, prosecution and punishment of corruption and organized crime “.

Its goal and scope is reduced by establishment of an Executive Agency within the framework of a government ministry, which will be responsible for the enforcement of court sentences and subsequent measures which are supposed to enforce the retributive justice (‘retaliatory punishment “) to almost all citizens of the state (taxpayers). It would also punish the abuse of public funds by returning them indirectly for the benefit of taxpayers.

This law, except that it fails to establish rules on the prevention and sanctioning of illegal enrichment, basically it is more of the secondary character. Its major part is focused on mostly technical aspects of the functioning of this executive agency and which must be solved through the terms of reference.

According to experts and lawyers, said Mrs. Ramaj, it is clear that the courts cannot deliver judgment and impose final judgments on confiscation of the property in cases other than those dealing with serious crimes, provided by the Criminal Code (Article 82 and 83). According to CCK, the illegal property can be confiscated only those persons who have committed a serious offenses.

Property nowadays can be appropriated by organized crime in a sophisticated manner. This method is often applied by people with ‘white collars’, who are not ordinary people, but can be part of high political, economic, diplomatic structures, etc, making it difficult for Criminal Code to be taken as legal basis for prosecution and effective punishment.