Confiscation as a legal mechanism for recovering the proceeds of corruption crimes in Algerian legislation

Abstract

Corruption crimes pose a serious threat to the national economy and its components, as they lead to the squandering of public wealth and the plundering of national resources. This necessitates the adoption of effective mechanisms to recover the proceeds of crime. In this context, "confiscation" emerges as one of the most important legal tools enabling the state to recover funds and property resulting from corruption crimes and deprive perpetrators of their benefits. Pursuant to Law No. 06-01 of February 20, 2006, on the prevention and fight against corruption and its subsequent amendments, the Algerian legislature introduced a sophisticated confiscation system, in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (2003), ratified by Algeria. This system includes confiscation based on a conviction and confiscation without a conviction, preceded in some cases by a precautionary measure, namely freezing or seizure. This mechanism raises fundamental legal issues: How did the Algerian legislature organize the substantive and procedural provisions for the confiscation of the proceeds of corruption crimes? What is the legal basis upon which it regulated its provisions at the domestic and international levels? To answer this problem, the research was divided into two axes: the first: the concept of confiscation, and the second: confiscation procedures.