The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) shares much of the practical genius found in two of its predecessor UN accords covering narcotics trafficking and transnational organized crime. All three conventions establish worldwide standards for criminalization in the arenas they address. They also establish binding norms for cross-border evidence gathering and exchange, extradition and just prosecution of offenders, and cooperation on the identification and recovery of illicit gains. However, the UNCAC adds a major innovation regarding the proceeds of crimes that States parties to that Convention confiscate within their respective borders in corruption cases with cross-border elements. It mandates the return of those assets as a “fundamental principle” and introduces, for the first time, an international asset recovery and return scheme. Accordingly, ever more UNCAC States parties are now faced with what can be inherently complex processes involved in achieving successful asset returns.
This paper analyses asset return complexities, examines how they are addressed by the UNCAC and shares examples of how they are addressed within the domestic legal systems of a diverse group of countries.