In the second issue of the VDU Baltic Journal of Law & Politics of 2024, a publication by the LEKOSTRA project team – Dr. Skirmantas Bikelis, Dr. Darius Pranka, and Goda Dainauskaitė – was released under the title “Penal Vs. Confiscation-Only Approaches in Money Laundering Control”.

The article examines two principal approaches to controlling the laundering of criminal proceeds: one rooted in criminal prosecution and the other based on civil confiscation. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative analysis of court judgments, decisions, and rulings, the authors aim to explore how far and in what ways these two legal pathways lead towards the seizure of assets acquired through criminal activity.

The results of criminal prosecution appear rather bleak – at least until the process transitions to the recognition of property as ownerless under civil procedure. This shift reveals an intriguing outcome of cooperation between criminal and civil justice mechanisms.

Interestingly, such a turn from penal prosecution to alternative asset recovery strategies has become a notable trend in the region. Latvia, Germany, and Lithuania (which, in fact, is testing two distinct civil alternatives) are experimenting with innovative approaches – albeit with significant differences – and the results have been surprisingly promising. At the same time, this opens up space for a critical discussion: are these outcomes perhaps too favorable? Is this method of confiscation truly balanced and fair? Thus far, neither the European Commission (regarding Germany), nor the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (regarding Latvia), nor the Supreme Courts of Germany and Lithuania have expressed major concerns.

The publication is available here.

The project Money Laundering in the system of the Criminal Gains Control Strategies (LEKOSTRA) is funded by the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), Contract No. S-MIP-23-40.