Podgorica, (MINA) – The Ministry of Justice has announced a public debate on the Draft Amendments to the Law on Confiscation of Criminal Assets, which, as announced, provides that property worth at least EUR 50,000 will be confiscated even before the ruling becomes final.

The Ministry said that the draft law aims to improve efficiency of the system of temporary and permanent confiscation of criminal assets.

In line with the amendment, according to the press release, a new article has been added, which allows the assets that has already been frozen to be confiscated in line with the provisions of the new law, as soon as the indictment is confirmed.

“In this way, it will be no longer be necessary to wait for the end of lengthy court proceedings in order to place assets of organized criminal groups, worth millions of Euros, under state control in a timely manner and use them for protection of the public interest”, the press release says.

The Ministry of Justice said that they also issued a call for public debate on the Draft Amendments to the Criminal Code of Montenegro, which introduce a new criminal offense of illegal enrichment in connection with the performance of public office, which introduces severe penalties for public officials whose property is clearly disproportionate to their income.