Confiscation proceedings

In confiscation proceedings the Public Prosecution Service seeks to recover allegedly unlawfully obtained gains: money you are said to have acquired through a criminal offence. Confiscation proceedings can be dealt with at the same time as the criminal case, but they need not be; they may also arise only after the criminal case has been concluded. Our lawyers have extensive experience of confiscation proceedings and are glad to represent you in the criminal case and in the confiscation proceedings alike.

The confiscation claim and the procedure

With a confiscation claim the Public Prosecution Service asks the court to order that money you obtained from an offence must be repaid to the state. That is done on the basis of what is known as the ‘Pluk ze’ confiscation legislation. The aim is that crime should not pay: someone who commits offences should not profit financially from them.

As in a criminal case, a file is compiled. It contains a confiscation report with a calculation of the unlawfully obtained gains: the amount you are said to have earned through offences. If you are suspected of cultivating cannabis, for instance, a calculation is made of how many harvests there were and what profit those would have produced.

Together with your lawyer you go through that file and decide on the strategy. Sometimes further investigation into the calculation is needed. You can then ask for witnesses to be questioned or have documents added to the file yourself.

That calculation is often where there is most to be gained. Confiscation reports regularly rest on assumptions: an estimated number of harvests, an average yield per unit, an assumed period over which trading is said to have taken place. Every one of those assumptions can be tested. Are the figures used current and applicable to your situation? Have the costs you incurred been deducted? Is it plausible that the gain ended up with you and not with someone else? And does the period being calculated actually match what the file shows? Our lawyers go through that calculation item by item.

The case is eventually dealt with at a hearing. Where the calculation is complicated, written rounds may precede it, in which the Public Prosecution Service and your lawyer exchange their positions. It is possible that you and the Public Prosecution Service then reach a settlement. In consultation with your lawyer you then make arrangements about the amount to be repaid and no hearing takes place.

At the hearing your criminal case and the confiscation proceedings may be dealt with at the same time, but the confiscation proceedings may also be taken up later. You are not obliged to attend, although it is sometimes advisable to do so. Here too you have the right to remain silent: you do not have to answer questions about any earnings from an offence. Your lawyer will advise you on what is sensible in your situation.

The confiscation order

If the court holds that you must repay unlawfully obtained gains, it imposes the confiscation order and you must pay a sum to the state. If you do not pay, the Public Prosecution Service examines whether your assets can be attached. If that too proves impossible, detention may follow: you are then taken into custody. That is a means of compulsion intended to make you meet the payment obligation after all.

Do you disagree with the confiscation order imposed by the district court? Do you consider the amount too high, or do you take the view that you obtained no gain at all? Then you can appeal and, after that, go to cassation if need be.

Engage one of our lawyers

Confiscation proceedings often involve substantial financial interests. Our firm regularly represents suspects in these proceedings and therefore knows which arguments can make the difference. With our legal and financial knowledge and our experience of confiscation proceedings, you have come to the right place. Do feel free to contact us for an initial consultation.