Enforcement of forfeiture orders

Republic of Estonia

Estonia - Penal Code 2001 (2020) EN

Part 1 GENERAL PART
Chapter 7 OTHER SANCTIONS

§ 83. Confiscation of object used to commit offence and direct object of offence
(1) A court may confiscate an object which was used or intended to be used to commit an intentional offence (hereinafter object used to commit offence), if it belongs to the offender at the time of the making of the judgment or ruling.
(2) In the cases provided by law, a court may confiscate the substance or object which was the direct object of the commission of an intentional offence, or the substance or object used for preparation of the offence if these belong to the offender at the time of the making of the judgment and confiscation thereof is not mandatory pursuant to law.
(3) The court may confiscate the objects or substance specified in subsections (1) and (2) of this section if it belongs to a third person at the time of the making of the judgment or ruling and the person:
1) has, at least through recklessness, aided in the use of the objects or substance for the commission or preparation of the offence,
2) has acquired the objects or substance, in full or in the essential part, on account of the offender, as a present or in any other manner for a price which is considerably lower than the normal market price; or
3) knew that the objects or substance was transferred to the person in order to avoid confiscation thereof.

(3.1) If the object used to commit an intentional offence or direct object of offence was used by the person on the basis of a contract for use or contract of sale with a reservation on ownership, a court many confiscate the proprietary rights of the person arising from that contract.
(3.2) The court may confiscate the proprietary rights specified in subsection (31 ) of this section if they belong to a third person at the time of the making of the judgment and he or she ta on has, at least through recklessness, aided in the use of the objects or substance for the commission of the offence.
(4) In the absence of the permission necessary for the possession of an object or substance, such object or substance shall be confiscated.
(5) In the cases provided for in subsection (4) of this section, a device, object or substance may be confiscated if the person has committed at least an unlawful act.
(6) In the cases provided for in subsections (1), (2) and (4) of this section, the object used to commit a misdemeanour or the substance or object which was the direct object of a misdemeanour may be confiscated by the body conducting extra-judicial proceedings prescribed by law.

§ 83.1. Confiscation of assets acquired through offence
(1) A court shall confiscate of the assets acquired through an offence object if these belong to the offender at the time of the making of the judgment or ruling.
(1.1) For the purposes of this section, assets acquired by an offence are the assets directly acquired by an offence and anything acquired for account of these assets.
(1.2) If any assets acquired by an offence are mixed with other assets, these assets are assets partially acquired by an offence. Assets partially acquired by an offence shall be deemed to be the assets acquired by an offence to the extent provided for in subsection (11 ) of this section and the confiscation thereof shall be replaced pursuant to the procedure provided for in § 84 of this Code.

(2) The court shall impose subsections (1)-(12 ) of this section to the assets which belong to a third person at the time of making the judgment, if:
1) these were acquired, in full or in the essential part, on account of the offender, as a present or in any other manner for a price which is considerably lower than the normal market price; or
2) the third person knew that the assets were transferred to the person in order to avoid confiscation.

(3) The court may decide not to confiscate, in part or in full, property acquired through offence if, taking account of the circumstances of the offence or the situation of the person, confiscation would be unreasonably burdensome or if the value of the assets is disproportionally small in comparison to the costs of storage, transfer or destruction of the property. The court shall decrease the amount of the property or assets to be confiscated by the amount of the object of a satisfied civil action or proof of claim in public law.

§ 83.2. Extended confiscation of assets acquired through criminal offence
(1) If a court convicts a person of a criminal offence, the court may, in the cases provided for in this Code, confiscate a part or all of the criminal offender's assets if these belong to the offender at the time of the making of the judgment, and if the nature of the criminal offence, the difference between the legal income and financial situation, expenses or the of living of the person or another fact gives reason to presume that the person has acquired the assets through commission of the criminal offence or for account of these assets (hereinafter assets acquired by criminal offence). Confiscation is not applied to assets with regard to which the person certifies that such assets were not acquired by a criminal offence.
(1.1) If any assets acquired by a criminal offence are mixed with other assets, these assets are assets partially acquired by a criminal offence. Assets partially acquired by a criminal offence shall be deemed to be the assets acquired by a criminal offence to the extent provided for in the first sentence of subsection (1) of this section and the confiscation thereof shall be replaced pursuant to the procedure provided for in § 84 of this Code.
(2) The court may impose subsections (1) and (11 ) of this section to the assets which belong to a third person at the time of making the judgment, if:
1) these were acquired, in full or in the essential part, on account of the offender, as a present or in any other manner for a price which is considerably lower than the normal market price; or
2) the third person knew that the assets were transferred to the person in order to avoid confiscation.

(3) Confiscation shall not be applied to Assets of a third party which have been acquired:
1) earlier than ten years as of the commission of a criminal offence in the first degree, or
2) earlier than five years as of the commission of a criminal offence in the second degree.

(4) Upon extended confiscation of assets acquired through criminal offence, the court shall take account of the provisions of subsection 831 (3) of this Code.

§ 84. Substitution of confiscation
If the assets acquired by an offence in the meaning of § 831 of this Code or assets acquired by a criminal offence in the meaning of § 832 of this Code, instrument by which a criminal offence was committed or direct object of a criminal offence have been transferred, consumed or the confiscation thereof is impossible or unreasonable for another reason, the court may order payment of an amount which corresponds to the value of the assets subject to confiscation.

§ 85. Effect of confiscation
(1) Confiscated objects shall be transferred into state ownership or, in the cases provided for in an international agreement, shall be returned.
(2) In the case of confiscation, the rights of third persons remain in force. The state shall pay compensation to third persons, except in the cases provided for in subsections 83(3), (32 ) and (4), 831 (2) and 832 (2) of this Code.
(3) Before entry into force, the decision of a body conducting extra-judicial proceedings or court concerning confiscation has the effect of a restraint on disposition.

Rome Statute

Article 109 Enforcement of fines and forfeiture measures

1. States Parties shall give effect to fines or forfeitures ordered by the Court under Part 7, without prejudice to the rights of bona fide third parties, and in accordance with the procedure of their national law.

2. If a State Party is unable to give effect to an order for forfeiture, it shall take measures to recover the value of the proceeds, property or assets ordered by the Court to be forfeited, without prejudice to the rights of bona fide third parties.

3. Property, or the proceeds of the sale of real property or, where appropriate, the sale of other property, which is obtained by a State Party as a result of its enforcement of a judgement of the Court shall be transferred to the Court.