Civil forfeiture
Definition
A legal mechanism, particularly used in the United States and United Kingdom, that allows courts to order the forfeiture of assets that are proceeds of crime without a criminal conviction of any person. The action runs against the property itself rather than a named defendant.
Related terms
- Confiscation order
- A court order transferring legal title to specified property from the defendant to the state or (in civil forfeiture) from unnamed property...
- Egmont Group
- An international network of 166 financial intelligence units (FIUs) that share financial intelligence through a secure system. FIUs are the operational channel...
- MLAT (mutual legal assistance treaty)
- A formal bilateral or multilateral agreement under which signatory countries cooperate in criminal investigations and proceedings, including by producing evidence, freezing accounts,...
- StAR initiative
- The Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, a joint World Bank and UNODC programme launched in 2007 that assists developing countries in recovering stolen...
- UNCAC
- The United Nations Convention Against Corruption, adopted in 2003. Chapter V establishes the first binding international framework for asset recovery, requiring signatories...
Explained in
- International Asset RecoveryA legal mechanism, particularly used in the United States and United Kingdom, that allows courts to order the forfeiture of assets that are proceeds of crime w...