The Constitutionality of Safeguards on Extended Confiscation

Abstract

The extended confiscation has been recently enshrined in the Romanian criminal law. In the decisions delivered in this matter the Constitutional Court held that the norms of Criminal Code on extended confiscation are constitutional insofar they are not applied to acts committed and to assets acquired before the entry into force of Law no. 63/2012 amending and supplementing the Romanian Criminal Code and Law no. 286/2009 on the Criminal Code. This study offers an analysis from a constitutional point of view of safeguard on extended confiscation, especially from constitutional rules point of view which regulate the principle of nonretroactivity of the law, except for the criminal law or the more favourable noncriminal law, the right to property, respectively the presumption of lawful acquirement of property and the standard of proof required in order to reverse this legal presumption, analysis founded also on the case law in this matter.