About PRecrim Project

This EU funded project is being conducted by a group of scholars, mainly from four European academic Institutions, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Faculdade de Dereito da Universidade do Porto, Universität Mannheim, University of Ljubljana, in order to confront different national regulations of preventive measures with the EU instruments, with a specific focus on the compliance with fundamental rights. In addition to the academic participants, professionals in the judiciary are part of the research group, to offer their every-day experience with the application of preventive measures and with the shortcomings of mutual legal assistance, especially with regard to no-conviction based confiscation.


The PreCrim project will address the following objectives:

  • analysing the potentialities of confiscation without conviction and other possible preventive measures;

  • analysing the specific risks of such measures against the fundamental rights set forth by the EU law, such as the presumption of innocence, nulla poena sine lege, fair trial;

  • focusing on the relationship between the extensive regulation in force in several systems and the EU legal instruments, with specific regard to mutual recognition of judicial orders;

  • re-considering the vast regulation, literature, case-law about preventive measures existing in the light of the current EU regulation and, in particular, of the interests of the EU, both in the realm of AFSJ and JHA;

  • enhancing awareness between the EU institutions and other MS about the importance of a scholarship discussion and theorization of preventive measures, in order to avoid severe violations of fundamental rights;

  • if it is true that preventive measures may turn out to be more effective than punishment, in combating organised crime, it is our purpose to inform media and public opinion of the reasons of this.

The PreCrim project is focusing on the opportunities and possible risks of preventive measures and, in particular, confiscation. If this is to be applied even before the final (criminal) decision and the link between the offense and the deprivation of asset blurs. All the planned activities are aimed to familiarize participants with the existing EU instruments, in particular the Regulation EU 2018/1805, in the field of mutual recognition of confiscation orders and to enhance the discussion about their compliance with fundamental rights. The academic preliminary comparison, the confrontation between professionals during the activities, the debate with public opinion will allow to understand how the national experiences can be a useful basis for the developing European legal platform.