Legal regulation on handling criminally acquired property and its impact upon business environment – the experience of Latvia

The prevailing importance of material values in contemporary society, undoubtedly, influences the nature of crime. At present, the main aim of criminal offences is to gain material benefits. In such conditions, in the majority of criminal cases it is inconceivable that the purpose of criminal proceedings could be reached without effective resolution of material issues of criminal procedure. The article examines the regulation on handling criminally acquired property in the Latvian criminal procedure, as well as assesses the impact of this regulation upon the business environment. I.e., the study provides answers to questions related to protecting the rights of a merchant as a victim, by using the tools envisaged by the Criminal Procedure Law. The study also examines business risks linked to such cases, where law enforcement institutions presume illegal origins of a merchant’s property. The research also focuses on implementation of the aforementioned legal instruments in correlation with human rights recognized in the European Union. The article provides an insight into the relevant issues in the Latvian criminal procedure in connection with confiscation of criminally acquired property or returning it to the victim, as well as into Latvia’s experience in implementing the Directive 2014/42/EU. Hopefully, the findings expressed in the article will be useful both for the theoreticians and practitioners of criminal procedure and will contribute to international sharing of experience. The following research methods have been used in preparing this article: analysis and synthesis of legal literature, of case law, and regulatory enactments; comparative method, analytical method, inductive and deductive method.