The Bil on Confiscation of Illicit Property (Extinction of Dominion) is still pending in the National Congress. Listín Diario reports that the Senate has already approved the second reading, but included changes that mean it returns to the Chamber of Deputies for approval.
The bill (Ley sobre Juicios de Extinción de Dominio para el Decomiso Civil de Bienes Ilícitos) would enable the state to take full possession of properties linked to criminal activities. In the past, goods have been seized but have had to be returned to well-known drug traffickers.
The bill would allow the government to keep and sell off millions of goods derived from drug trafficking activities, such as those the Attorney General’s Office now attributes to the Cesar Emilio Peralta (The Abuser) Drug Trafficking Operation.
The legislature obliges banks to give information to judges. It opens the country to international cooperation and homologates foreign sentences as long as they do not contradict the Dominican Constitution and laws. The bill indicates that assets derived from illicit activities, those that are instruments of illicit activities or where it is intended to hide assets of illicit origin, are subject to civil forfeiture, even when no sentence has passed that determines criminal responsibility. The forfeited property will be distributed according to the money laundering legislation. It also orders that jurisdiction in this matter be exercised, in all cases, by the courts of extinction of dominion, with the category of Court of Appeal, made up of not less than five judges.
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Listin Diario
27 August 2019