Motion for a resolution | Doc. 14171 | 12 October 2016

Fighting organised crime by facilitating the confiscation of illegal assets

Signatories: Mr Mart van de VEN, Netherlands, ALDE ; Ms Marieluise BECK, Germany, ALDE ; Mr Jokin BILDARRATZ, Spain, ALDE ; Ms Anne BRASSEUR, Luxembourg, ALDE ; Mr Hendrik DAEMS, Belgium, ALDE ; Mr Alain DESTEXHE, Belgium, ALDE ; Mr Constantinos EFSTATHIOU, Cyprus, SOC ; Ms Christiana EROTOKRITOU, Cyprus, SOC ; Ms Adele GAMBARO, Italy, ALDE ; Mr Alfred HEER, Switzerland, ALDE ; Mr Andrej HUNKO, Germany, UEL ; Mr Carles JORDANA, Andorra, ALDE ; Ms Nellija KLEINBERGA, Latvia, ALDE ; Mr Haluk KOÇ, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Tiny KOX, Netherlands, UEL ; Mr George LOUCAIDES, Cyprus, UEL ; Mr Teófilo de LUIS, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Kerstin LUNDGREN, Sweden, ALDE ; Mr Dirk Van der MAELEN, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Marit MAIJ, Netherlands, SOC ; Ms Anouchka van MILTENBURG, Netherlands, ALDE ; Mr Anne MULDER, Netherlands, ALDE ; Mr Pieter OMTZIGT, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Ms Judith PALLARÉS, Andorra, ALDE ; Mr Bernard PASQUIER, Monaco, ALDE ; Ms Carmen QUINTANILLA, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Mailis REPS, Estonia, ALDE ; Ms Melisa RODRÍGUEZ HERNÁNDEZ, Spain, ALDE ; Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Austria, SOC ; Mr Nico SCHRIJVER, Netherlands, SOC ; Mr Frank SCHWABE, Germany, SOC ; Ms Olena SOTNYK, Ukraine, ALDE ; Ms Tineke STRIK, Netherlands, SOC ; Ms Petra De SUTTER, Belgium, SOC ; Mr Jordi XUCLÀ, Spain, ALDE

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

Organised criminals and criminal organisations have illegally accumulated huge assets – sometimes larger than the GDP of many countries – threatening democracy and the rule of law. New measures are urgently needed to facilitate confiscation of illegal assets. Several countries have already passed relevant laws and a number of international instruments have been adopted in order to fight organised crime, corruption and money laundering more effectively.

One of the measures some countries are using with success is the application of civil law evidence standards or even the reversal of the burden of proof when targeting proceeds of crime.

The Parliamentary Assembly should develop concrete proposals for legislative action both at the national and the international level, which also take into account legitimate human rights concerns and the need for increased transparency in order to identify illegal assets more effectively for the effective confiscation of these assets.