ABSTRACT
Over the past two decades a number of Western European countries (such as Ireland, Italy and the UK) have introduced civil procedures for the forfeiture of proceeds of crime in order to overcome the limitations and the slow pace of the criminal justice process when dealing with criminal assets. In a similar vein, Bulgaria has put a criminal assets forfeiture system in place, institutionally backed up with a specialized agency that brings forfeiture proceedings in the civil courts. At the same time, the country’s efforts to tackle rampant corruption and organized crime by strengthening law-enforcement agencies and the judiciary were subjected to intensive external scrutiny before and after its accession to the European Union in 2007. Along with criminal justice and penal policies, forfeiture of criminal assets has become one of the key areas where the European Commission has strongly pressed for reform.1 Public and European Union expectations were fuelled even more when the centre-right party GERB (Grazhdani za Evropeysko Razvitie na Balgariya – Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria) entered government in 2009 and subsequently put the adoption of a more effective forfeiture regime high on its (populist) agenda. This led to legislative changes, especially the introduction of a non-conviction based (‘NCB’) procedure (previously, confiscation was not possible without a conviction in related criminal proceedings). Although the current legislation on asset forfeiture provides enough tools for the forces of the law to ‘go after the money’ of criminals, its practical implementation has faced several challenges and has not satisfied public expectations.
