A political agreement was reached. The deputies of all parties voted yes to 37 amendments to the Extinction of Domain Bill that expedites the forfeiture of assets derived directly or indirectly from an illicit act carried out in the national territory or abroad. The deputies were reviewing the law received the previous week from the Senate. Senators had passed the bill on 14 July 2022 after months of discussions by a bicameral committee.
In two separate sessions, with debates of seven and five hours, the Extinction of Domain forfeiture bill was approved in the Chamber of Deputies on Friday, 22 July 2022. The first reading on Thursday, had 161 “yes” votes; the second reading passed with the vote of 143 deputies.
Among the amendments, the deputies removed the clauses that allowed retroactivity and another that allowed state prosecutors to seize presumably illicit goods without a court sentence, with only an abbreviated procedure and an agreement with prosecutors.
The deputies eliminated the clause that called for a 20-year retroactive effect of the law. This article (Art 4) called for a 20-year statute of limitation on cases of illicit, illegal or criminal activities that led to riches, even before the law goes into effect. Article 2262 of the Civil Code provides for such a statute of limitations.
The deputies also eliminated the requirement for the President to produce a set of regulations for the application of the law within 90 days of signing the legislation. The lower house legislators also eliminated several of the specific crimes that would fall under the aegis of the proposed law. These include aggravated robbery, procuring for prostitution, and market manipulation.
The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Pacheco, highlighted the effort to draft a law by consensus and emphasized the balance reached to save the bill that had passed by the Senate. He acknowledged the work of the senators in the bicameral commission that prepared the first draft of the bill presented to the floor of the Senate.
The bill that seeks to expedite the forfeiture of illicit assets returns to the floor of the Senate on Monday, 25 July. In the session on Thursday, 14 July, the bill had been approved with a vote of 20 out of the 28 senators present in the Chamber. The senators have the sessions on 25 and 26 July to pass the bill during the regular session period.
The bill will allow the government to confiscate goods, property and monies acquired through illegal means. This law, more than a decade in the works, seeks to eliminate one of the major loopholes in current legislation. Today, extradited criminals can recover their ill-gotten goods after serving their sentences abroad.
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25 July 2022