Background and purpose

The new Regulation on the Mutual Recognition of Freezing and Confiscation Orders (hereinafter the 'Regulation') shall apply as of 19 December 2020.

The Regulation introduces a completely new legal framework in the EU governing the area of judicial cooperation in the field of asset recovery, replacing the legal instruments applicable so far. The new regime brings both significant changes and novelties that might affect the everyday casework of practitioners in the Member States.

The purpose of this Note is to (i) provide a brief introduction to the Regulation, (ii) raise awareness of the start of its application and (iii) bring key novelties of the new legal framework to the attention of the practitioners as well as issues that could be of interest during the first days of its application.

The Note does not aim at an analysis of the specific legal issues that may stem from the application of the Regulation nor does it provide an exhaustive list of possible challenging legal issues. Many of them would require substantial analysis that goes beyond the scope of this Note.