Confiscation
Confiscation ( Latin confiscatio ) or confiscation denotes the expropriation and confiscation of goods or assets by the state without compensation . In unjust states and in revolutionary situations, confiscation often takes place without any legal basis, only on the basis of the power of the state or of the revolutionaries.
In the constitutional state, on the other hand, confiscation is the result of an injustice committed by the owner of the confiscated goods and can be punished in addition to a punishment for offenses of various kinds: One example is customs offenses that result in the confiscation of contraband; or in the event of violations of the species protection law . Weapons of the crime are also confiscated; The legal basis here is the so-called forfeiture in favor of the state.
The verb that describes the process of confiscation is to confiscate .
Expropriation / confiscation
There is a significant legal difference between the two terms. Ownership of the thing is revoked in both cases, but while confiscation denotes deprivation of property without compensation, expropriation is deprivation of property with compensation. In political, media and colloquial language, people often speak of expropriation regardless of this difference.
literature
- Tullio Spagnuolo Vigorita: Confiscation. In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity . Volume 21, Hiersemann, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-7772-0620-2 , Sp. 355-416
