Confiscarea speciala. Elemente de drept comparat [Special confiscation. Elements of compared law]

Special seizure is found in all modern legislations, the adopted regulations being similar to those provided by Romanian law. Analyzing the internal laws of different countries provides interesting results. A relevant issue concerns the legal nature of the seizure, which is considered either a measure of safety, or a criminal punishment. An interesting approach is found in common-law system. The recent increase of economic crimes and drug traffic resulted in the need of a new element. First used in the USA, the seizure based on civil procedure seems to expand , being considered more efficient than the one based on criminal procedure, which is related to the sentence of the offender. Examples of states which have adopted this trend are Great Britain, Ireland, Italy and Australia. The evolution of organized crime has played an important role in the development of the confiscation in the civil procedure. Given the fact that it became more difficult for criminal trials to be completed and to lead to the conviction of the offender and the confiscation of the instruments and the results of the crime, it became clear that additional procedures are needed. A solution might be the approach of the seizure on the civil side of the case or in a civil trial, separated from the criminal one. Taking into consideration these facts, we will examine the legislations of various states.