Minister urges EU to target assets of crime gangs

CONFISCATIONS:MINISTER FOR Justice Alan Shatter is pressing his European colleagues to introduce new laws that would make it easier to confiscate the overseas assets of crime gangs. Mr Shatter wants EU member states to introduce mechanisms for seizing criminal assets based on civil law and largely modelled on the Irish Criminal Assets Bureau.

At a meeting of EU justice ministers in Luxembourg today and tomorrow, Mr Shatter will urge the European Commission to back the Cab model as part of planned changes to its approach to tackling organised crime.

The Minister told The Irish Times that the promotion of a civil law-based asset seizure model based on the Cab precedent would be a priority during Ireland’s presidency of the EU next year. Ireland and the UK operate asset bureaus that can seek court orders allowing for the freezing and eventual confiscation of criminals’ illegal assets. Cab, which was set up in response to the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, can secure the confiscation of assets in the absence of a criminal conviction. While the commission is proposing limited changes, Mr Shatter says they don’t go far enough.

“We need a civil asset seizure model across Europe. I have written to all ministers of justice in EU countries urging a more radical approach.”