Tokens: The
question
is
therefore
whether
,
in
the
present
case
,
the
confiscation
measure
must
be
regarded
as
a
criminal
sanction
imposed
on
the
applicant
companies
,
or
whether
it
should
be
compared
with
the
above
-
mentioned
line
of
case
-
law
.
The
fact
that
criminal
proceedings
have
been
brought
against
third
parties
can
not
be
regarded
as
equivalent
to
the
prosecution
or
indictment
of
the
person
affected
,
who
therefore
can
not
rely
on
the
criminal
aspect
of
Article
6
or
on
Article
7
.
The
Court
has
already
had
occasion
to
examine
the
imposition
of
confiscation
measures
decided
following
criminal
proceedings
against
third
parties
,
and
generally
after
the
latter
have
been
convicted
.
In
those
cases
it
has
often
found
that
the
person
affected
by
the
measure
had
not
been
convicted
and
therefore
the
criminal
limb
of
Article
6
was
not
engaged.[12
]
.
Even
though
the
Court
has
accepted
that
measures
in
connection
with
an
act
for
which
third
parties
have
been
prosecuted
could
interfere
with
an
applicant
’s
property
rights
,
it
has
refused
to
find
that
this
involved
the
“
determination
of
any
criminal
charge
”
against
the
applicant
himself
or
herself.[13
]
For
the
same
reasons
,
it
found
Article
7
to
be
inapplicable
to
a
case
of
confiscation
of
property
which
had
been
used
by
a
third
party
to
commit
a
criminal
offence
(
confiscation
of
a
vehicle
used
to
assist
unlawful
immigration).[14
]
Labels: O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O