Parliament adopts Bill on Confiscation of Proceeds from Crime

43 MPs voted in favor of the Bill.

None of the 19 amendments submitted by the URA Civic Movement were adopted

Representatives of the Democratic Party of Socialists and the European Alliance left the session before the vote.

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From the session, Photo: Screenshot/Youtube/Parliament of Montenegro
From the session, Photo: Screenshot/Youtube/Parliament of Montenegro
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

Last night, the Parliament of Montenegro adopted, with the votes of the parliamentary majority and Zoran Mikić from the Civic Movement URA, the Bill on the Confiscation of Property Gains Acquired through Criminal Activity.

43 MPs voted in favor of the Bill.

The civic movement URA submitted 19 amendments to the Bill, but none were accepted.

Minister of Justice Bojan Božović said that the law has mechanisms to control abuses and is fully compliant with the European Commission.

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The draft law on confiscation of proceeds of crime stipulates, among other things, that property worth at least 50 thousand euros, under certain conditions, may be confiscated even before a final conviction.

Such a possibility is envisaged for certain criminal offences committed as part of a criminal association or criminal organisation, after the indictment has been confirmed, or a main trial has been scheduled in a summary procedure, if the court determines that the property was acquired through criminal activity.

The bill also provided that a convicted perpetrator could be deprived of property worth at least five thousand euros, for which there is a reasonable suspicion that it was acquired through criminal activity, unless it is proven that its origin is legal, but after the Government acted through an amendment, this monetary threshold was deleted. This means that such property will be able to be confiscated regardless of its value.

Confiscation may also include property transferred to a family member or third party if it is determined that they knew, could have known, or were required to know that the purpose of the transfer or acquisition of the property was to avoid its confiscation.

Note: The MINA agency reported last night that representatives of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the European Alliance (EA) left the session before the vote. Only DPS MPs left the session before the vote. EA MPs were in the hall until 19 p.m., and the vote took place after 23 p.m.

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