Critical and Comparative Analysis of the Emergence of Criminal Policies Focused on Property. Targeting Assets to Circumvent Evidence-Gathering Difficulties?

For the past forty years, new criminal policies focused on property have emerged and considerably expanded on a global scale. The will of political and legislative bodies that 'crime does not pay' has led them to adopt new instruments to fight unlawful lucrative behaviors. Hence, the trend has been to progressively focus on the deprivation of illicit assets rather than on the person of the defendant, yet sometimes at the expense of fundamental guarantees, through the implementation of freezing, seizure, confiscation and forfeiture mechanisms. Based on the study of the US, the UK, Italy, Belgium and relevant supranational instruments, the dissertation purports to create a typology of asset recovery instruments. It then evaluates the tensions existing between said mechanisms and the fundamental guarantees afforded to the individual – i.e. the search for equilibrium between fighting crime efficiently and protecting the individuals.

Personal data

Author: Michaël Fernandez-Bertier

University/Institution: Université catholique de Louvain

Short bio: Michaël Fernandez-Bertier is a PhD candidate and Assistant at Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium) where he teaches criminal law and criminal procedure law; he is a member of the criminal law (CRID&P) and business law (CRIDES) research centers. Michael has participated as a researcher in several national and international projects (EU, US, South America). He specializes in white-collar crime, criminal procedure and banking and finance law. Michael holds an LL.M. from Columbia University (NY) and is admitted to the New York Bar.

Email: michael.fernandez@uclouvain.be

Picture:
M_Fernandezbertier.jpg

Phd Document

Provisional title: Critical and Comparative Analysis of the Emergence of Criminal Policies Focused on Property. Targeting Assets to Circumvent Evidence-Gathering Difficulties?

Name of supervisor/s: Marie-Aude Beernaert

Language: English

Starting date: 2011-03-10

Excpected end date: 2016-10-01