Human Rights in Asset Recovery Processes - Lessons from the ECtHR

Overview & Synopsis

Managing the dynamics between corruption and human rights law is part of the everyday work of asset recovery practitioners. While acts of corruption may diminish the human rights and freedoms of citizens, asset recovery measures may also restrict the rights of alleged corrupt officials and third parties. These tensions cannot be resolved in the abstract. Instead, they must be moderated by particular people in particular matters with reference to particular asset recovery and human rights norms. To build that specialized knowledge base, the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR) here presents a review of almost 200 cases on confiscation and international cooperation from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). A busy and influential international human rights tribunal, the ECtHR’s jurisprudence is rich with insights on how human rights could apply in asset recovery contexts. Its cases have direct relevance to practitioners working with or in important European financial centers and serve as a reference point for others. Summarizing the key ECtHR judgments and synthesizing them with recent jurisprudence, this publication aims to help practitioners secure robust outcomes by illustrating how asset recovery processes interact with human rights laws.