Reconsidering the effectiveness of an asset confiscation scheme

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to suggest how the effectiveness of an asset confiscation scheme might be evaluated by focussing on the currently operating Victorian model in Australia. For illustrative purposes, the offence of trafficking a commercial quantity of cannabis has been chosen. This is a topical and important issue, given two recent reports by the Victorian Auditor-General lamenting the absence of a suitable framework for evaluating the scheme’s performance. Because these programs provide important supplementary punishment tools, it is desirable that methodologies to gauge their efficacy be developed. Design/methodology/approach - The approach to evaluating effectiveness is a mixture of criminological and economic theory coupled with some basic empirics. Utilising insights from the theories of valuing the social losses of crime and that of penalties provides a backdrop against which actual values of confiscated assets can be compared with ideal ones. Findings - Comparison of actual and ideal values reveals a very considerable gap between the two, which suggests that the scheme is being underutilised relative to its maximum potential. The value of seized assets is well below the ideal order of magnitude. Even though the data on which this finding is based are sparse, the framework can be replicated as better statistics on the scheme’s operations become available. Originality/value - The suggested methodology builds on and adds to current knowledge of evaluation techniques for legal system programs. Hopefully, it will provide stakeholders with yet another lens through which to view the operation of an asset confiscation scheme, and provide an impetus for collecting better quality data.