THE ARMENIAN CONFISCATION LAW OF 2020CONSIDERING THE EUROPEAN STANDARDS

Abstract

The subject of this paper is a synthetic presentation of the basic standards of the Council of Europe on the criminal measure of confiscation of property, notably its extended forms. Due to the considerable severity of this mechanism and the potential violations of fundamental rights that might result from it, extended confiscation has repeatedly been the subject of ECtHR jurisprudence. The text presents the conclusions drawn from the basic rulings of the Strasbourg Court in this regard. Against this background, the author presents the essential elements of the extended confiscation system recently adopted in Armenia. A comparison of these models leads to the conclusion that the Armenian model goes far beyond the standards of the Council of Europe, which raises doubts about its compatibility with the body of human rights, as decoded in the ECHR and articulated by the ECtHR. The author attempts to predict the possible consequences of such a confrontation.