Criminal confiscation and violation of the right to property of unprocessed third parties

Abstract

In this paper, it is analyzed whether the criminal confiscation established in the Ecuadorian criminal code violates the right to property of unprocessed third parties. This, because the applicable precept has been interpreted and applied differently by the judges of the National Court of Justice. This work adheres to the current that establishes that the confiscation proceeds over assets used for the commission of the crime belonging only to the participants, that is, to the perpetrators of the crime with an enforceable sentence. This current is an interpretation according to the Constitution and national and international jurisprudence. For this reason, this work proposes a reform to the penalty of confiscation under the principle of legality to restrict its application only over assets of participants in the crime and not to those of unprocessed third parties, thus imposing a limit to the punitive power of the state.