Confiscation orders are an effective legal instrument for combating organised crime and holding criminals to account, allowing governments and other law enforcement agencies to seize case or assets gained from criminal activities and organised crime.
Freezing orders disrupt these individuals and groups by denying them the gains from their unlawful activities.
This post aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of confiscation orders, focusing on their influence over organised crime and the efficiency of the tool as a prevention measure.
- Disrupting Financial Gains
The essential purpose of a confiscation order is to address the financial aspect of organised crime. Criminal organisations can acquire huge amounts of capital, with a 2020 report by the National Crime Agency (NCA) stating that organised crime genereated £37 billion annually in the United Kingdom.
The Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA 2002) allows law enforcement to confiscate wealth from these criminal organisations through confiscation, cash detention and account freezing orders. The NCA said it secured £209 million from organised crime in 2021 alone. Confiscation orders restrict the chance of criminals to reinvest in unlawful business, thereby negating their organisation.
- Dismantling Criminal Networks
Confiscation orders are a valuable tool in tackling criminal organisations. By involving specialised financial investigation methods, it is possible to follow and seize related property and assets, taking away the gains from their illegal activities.
According to Europol, from 2016 to 2020, law enforcement agencies seized more than €2 billion in dirty money from European criminal groups, which greatly hindered their activity.
This is just one of the many tools authorities use to deal with these groups to disrupt their financial base, disrupt their hierarchy, and prevent future criminal actions.
- Deterrent Effect
Forfeiture orders are crucial for restricting the offender’s future criminal activity. When criminals know they might lose the gains from their illicit activities, they may think twice about offending in the future.
The European Commission study conducted in 2019 revealed that employment of the confiscation order as a determent has a deterrent impact, lowering the crime level, organised crime level in particular, by 15-20% in the countries where there is adequate legislation for asset forfeiture.
Criminals know that they will be deprived of any gains from illegal activities, making sure that crime does not pay.
- Restorative Justice for Victims and Police
Restorative justice is also an added benefit of confiscation orders. Assets that have been seized can be sold to finance the activities of the police or to the victims of the crime.
For example, the UK’s Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS) allows some recovered properties to be returned to the police and used in community projects.
For the policing of organised crime, in the year ending 31st March 2020, ARIS provided funding of over £100 million to the relevant police forces in the United Kingdom. This helps to continue the future fight against crime, and gives concrete assistance to victims increasing community confidence.
Final Thoughts
Confiscation orders have become an essential tool in the campaign against organised crime. The above orders disturb the prospective monetary profits, disrupt the criminal groups operations, dissuade potential future offences, assist victims, all of which collectively inflict a significant impact on criminal entities.
Confiscation orders weaken organised crime groups and protect society from the negative impact of those groups.
Examining the trends in enhancing law enforcement agencies’ flexibility and collaboration globally, it is likely that the efficiency of confiscation orders will rise in the subsequent years.