Jurisprudential and Legal Analysis of the Legitimacy of Confiscating Assets Derived from Bribery and Its Impact on the Prevention of Financial Corruption

Abstract

The confiscation and seizure of assets derived from bribery is considered one of the most important legal and criminal tools in the fight against financial corruption. Beyond its punitive function, this measure plays a preventive role in reducing the economic incentives to commit crimes. In the Islamic jurisprudential system, the principle of "the prohibition of consuming property through wrongful means" serves as the foundation for the legitimacy of confiscating illicit assets. Shiite jurists emphasize the necessity of returning assets obtained through financial corruption to their rightful owner or to the public treasury. In Iran's legal system, various laws—including the Islamic Penal Code, the Anti-Money Laundering Act, and the Law on the Promotion of Administrative Health—have established mechanisms for the confiscation of illicit property. However, at the implementation stage, several challenges arise, including the difficulty of distinguishing between licit and illicit assets, legal shortcomings, weak financial oversight, and prolonged judicial proceedings. Comparative analysis reveals that in many advanced legal systems, such as those of France and the United Kingdom, independent agencies exist to manage confiscated assets, and international cooperation for the repatriation of illicit assets to the country of origin is effectively carried out. In Iran, the absence of such mechanisms has, in some cases, resulted in the retention of assets derived from financial corruption by the perpetrators. This article, by examining the jurisprudential and legal foundations of asset confiscation and comparing them with international standards, emphasizes the need for legal reform, strengthening of financial oversight, acceleration of judicial procedures, and the establishment of independent institutions for managing seized assets, in order to enhance the effectiveness of anti-corruption policies in the country.