The confiscation of unlawfully gained property and its transfer into state ownership based on final court decisions will be facilitated and expedited by legislation regulating the seizure of illegally gained assets, which takes effects on 1 January 2011.
The legislation, adopted by the Croatian parliament on 15 December, is viewed as an efficient tool in the fight against organised crime and corruption.
The procedure for the seizure of unlawfully acquired assets can be initialled before, during and after the criminal proceedings against the owners of such assets who are suspected of committing crime.
Issuing writs of confiscation of the unlawfully gained assets is within the remit of courts that will also determine how much gain has been acquired through unlawful activities. When the guilty ruling on the matter becomes final, assets including real estate and all forms of personal property will become state property.
The confiscation will be continued also in the case of the death of the defendants if it is established that their property is used by their inheritors or third parties.
The legislation binds banks to forward data on the financial situation of defendants, and banks cannot pay any frozen money to them until the announcement of a final verdict.
The confiscated property is managed by the central office for managing state property which also keeps records about the transferred property.
The office can sell and lease assets whose value is at risk of being reduced dramatically in the event of their retention in the office.
