Fiches Belges

General requirements The requesting Member State is required to submit the original or a certified copy of a final court decision together with a certificate as provided for in Article 4 of the Framework Decision on Confiscation Orders containing the following information: 1. The name and address of the court which made the order for confiscation; 2. The names and addresses of the judicial authorities competent in respect of the request; 3. As detailed a description as possible of the natural or legal person against whom the decision is to be enforced; 4. The amount of the sum of money or a description of another asset which is to be the subject of the enforcement; 5. A description of the grounds for the order; 6. A description of the circumstances of the commission of the criminal offence, including the time and place of commission; 7. The nature and legal assessment of the criminal offence, including the statutory provisions on the basis of which the decision was given and 8. Information concerning whether the person concerned appeared in person at the hearing or the reasons why that was not necessary.

Regulation (EU) 2018/1805 FD 2003/577/JHA

The request is to be sent to the public prosecution office in whose district the assets are located or in whose district the item of property is located. If the assets are located in various districts, then competence remains with the public prosecution office which has first seized in the case. It is for the court to give a decision regarding enforceability of the freezing of assets.

Incoming freezing certificates and confiscation certificates in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1805 must be written in German.

Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1805 is directly applicable. Furthermore, no time limits apply to the execution of requests for mutual assistance in respect of the seizure of assets to secure confiscation or rendering unusable.

Freezing orders are enforced without conducting a double criminality check if, under the law of the requesting state, the offence giving rise to the order is punishable by a sanction involving deprivation of liberty of a maximum of at least three years and belongs to one of the categories of offences listed in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1805 or is an offence within the meaning of Article 3(2) of Council Framework Decision 2003/577/JHA. An exemption applies to requests for extended confiscation (confiscation of items even if these have been obtained by means of other unlawful acts or for them) as well as to the confiscation of third-party products, instruments and objects of crime. The statutes of limitation in respect of prosecution and enforcement must always be observed.