Expert Tells DPR No Country Has Successfully Implemented Asset Forfeiture Law

Senior advocate Juniver Girsang has proposed changing the nomenclature of the Asset Forfeiture Bill (RUU Perampasan Aset) to the Law on the Recovery of Assets from Criminal Offences, during a public hearing (RDPU) on the bill at Commission III of the House of Representatives (DPR) on Monday (3/8).

During the session, Juniver proposed two options for changing the nomenclature. Besides the Law on the Recovery of Assets from Criminal Offences, he also proposed renaming it the Law on the Restoration of Assets from Criminal Offences.

“The nomenclatures we propose are the Law on the Restoration of Assets from Criminal Offences or the Law on the Recovery of Assets from Criminal Offences,” he said during the hearing.

Juniver takes the view that these two nomenclatures are in line with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), which governs matters of asset recovery.

He understands that the public currently prefers the nomenclature of the Asset Forfeiture Law. However, Juniver believes that such a name is ethically inappropriate.

“So with this title, before anything has even happened, a person is already convicted of an act; before anything has happened, it is already said that their assets will be forfeited, which means they have already committed a crime,” he said.

Furthermore, Juniver warned that the Asset Recovery Bill could become a political tool of those in power in the future. He believes this is a concern shared by all parties regarding the bill.

“Do not let this become a new ‘instrument of power’ to eliminate political opponents — in truth, this is a worry we all share,” he said.

No country has successfully implemented an asset forfeiture law

Juniver reminded that the bill should not become an instrument of control for developed countries through ratification. This is because, in his assessment, no country has yet succeeded in implementing such an asset forfeiture law.

“Perhaps it needs to be studied further which country has successfully ratified asset forfeiture; we could learn from them, but as far as I know, no country has succeeded after this has been enacted,” said Juniver.

“In fact, this becomes — what is the most fitting word — an instrument to eliminate opponents. That is why we firmly say that this bill is very biased,” he added.