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German Civil Asset-Forfeiture Bill Fails to Launch

Gabriel Vedrenne
Senior Reporter

German lawmakers have delayed a vote on legislation that would give local law enforcement agencies new, non-conviction-based asset-confiscation tools amid strong disagreement over the bill's contents, including among the parties that make up their country's ruling coalition. While broad support exists within Germany's governing alliance of Greens, the liberal Free Democratic Party, or FDP, and Social Democrats, or SPD, for a civil forfeiture regime that aligns with global standards, the parties appear miles apart on some aspects of the 72-page Act to Combat Asset Concealment, also known by its German acronym, "VVBG." "We want a law that really makes a...

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