Asset Freezing: Smart Sanction or Criminal Charge?

• Author: Melissa van den Broek, Monique Hazelhorst, Wouter de Zanger
• Position: LL.M. is a former Legal Research Master student at Utrecht University and currently holds a Ph.D position at the Institute of Constitutional and Administrative law at Utrecht University/Currently students in the Master's Programme Legal Research at Utrecht University
• Pages: 18-27

Asset Freezing: Smart Sanction or Criminal Charge?

Melissa van den Broek, Monique Hazelhorst

& Wouter de Zanger

Merkourios 2010 – Volume 27/Issue 72, Article, pp. 18-27.

URN: NBN:NL:UI:10-1-100924

ISSN: 0927-460X

URL: www.merkourios.org

Publisher: Igitur, Utrecht Publishing & Archiving Services

Copyright: this work has been licensed by the Creative Commons Attribution License (3.0)

Keywords

Criminal Charge, Smart Sanctions, Asset Freezing, Article 6 ECHR, EU, EC, Terrorism.

Abstract

In this article the question is asked whether asset freezing can be qualied as a criminal charge within the meaning of Article

6 ECHR and if yes, what eects this qualication may have on the legislative framework on so called smart sanctions. By

analysing Community and EU law and case law of the European Court of Human Rights, General Court of Instance and

Court of Justice of the European Communities the authors give an overview of the notion and possible qualication of asset

freezing as a criminal charge. e article further focusses on the consequenses of qualifying asset freezing as a criminal charge

under ECHR and EC/EU law and concludes by answering the aforementioned question.

is article is a rewrite of a research paper written under supervision of prof. dr. J.A.E. Vervaele and prof. dr. C.H. Brants

(Willem Pompe Institute for Criminal Law and Criminology, Utrecht University School of Law), whom the authors would

like to thank for their useful comments and supervision.

Author Aliations

Melissa van den Broek LL.M. is a former Legal Research Master student at Utrecht University and currently holds a Ph.D

position at the Institute of Constitutional and Administrative law at Utrecht University. Wouter de Zanger and Monique

Hazelhorst are currently students in the Master’s Programme Legal Research at Utrecht University.

Article

Merkourios - Criminal Justice and Human Rights - Vol. 27/72 18