The High Court of Piura in northwestern Peru has announced it will set up a specialised court for cases relating to a new law on extinción de dominio (which roughly translates as “extinction of possession”), a form of non-conviction-based asset forfeiture.

We are delighted that a judge trained by the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery and the Subnational PFM Programme, Dr. María Elizabeth Olaya Escobar, has been appointed to the new Piura court.

Extinción de Dominio is a legal mechanism that can be used to recover property or assets acquired as a result of illicit activities, even if a criminal conviction cannot be obtained due to death or another reason. States can file legal actions for the return of stolen assets located in other jurisdictions.

The Peruvian Judicial Branch is currently rolling out a national programme to create 21 courts and 3 specialised chambers with the competence to process extinción de dominio cases under Legislative Decree N°1373.

See the original article (in Spanish).