He Judicial Branch of Peru announced before the United Nations Organization (UN) which carefully evaluates the effects of Law 32326, approved by the Congresswhich requires firm conviction, before extinguishing illicit assets; as well as the particular interpretation of the Constitutional Court on the recovery of assets without conviction.
The statement was made by Manuel Luján Tépez, coordinator of the Domain Extinction System of Peru, during his participation in the second part of the 16th session of the exam group of the application of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). The event took place in Vienna, Switzerland.
Fight against organized crime
The PJ representative indicated that Legislative Decree No. 1373 represented a milestone for Peru in the fight against corruption and organized crime. In that sense, he indicated that this rule was based on article 54 of the Convention, which promotes asset recovery by means of the confiscation of assets without the need for a sentence. However, this rule was modified through Law 32326, approved by Congress.
“Since its implementation, just over six years ago, more than US $ 191 million in illicit assets have been recovered or extinguished,” said the Supreme Judge.
Luján Tépez referred to Judgment 135/2025 of the TC, which indicates that the United Nations Convention against Corruption does not force states to have a domain extinction process.
“In recent months, the regulations have been subject to some legislative modifications, whose effects and results, from the Judiciary, we are evaluating with attention, impartiality and independence, which will be paid attention to the case in process,” he said.
The magistrate stressed that UNCAC is the only universal instrument against legally binding corruption and plays a fundamental role in the union of countries against corruption and promoting an effective international cooperation.
Luján Tépez indicated that corruption linked to organized crime is one of the most difficult challenges for the administration of justice in Peru.
“This problem represents a serious concern for the security and governance of the country, particularly when criminal structures manage to influence the functioning of public institutions, affecting the integrity of public service and citizen trust,” he said.
Given this, he reiterated the need to maintain and promote the technical, legal and political dialogue between the different actors of the State and thus ensure a coherent, articulated and effective response to organized crime.
Domino extinction
The Supreme Judge explained that, because criminal organizations usually have very complex and professional structures that hinder their identification, investigation and punishment, the Peruvian State decided to implement the domain extinction process through Legislative Decree No. 1373.
“It is a complementary tool for the recovery of illegal assets, a legal mechanism that allows to deprive the property of illicit origin, even without the need for prior criminal conviction, to prevent such assets from continuing to circulate freely in the market,” he said.
In this way, he stressed that it seeks to cut the economic flow of crime, avoid money laundering and weaken the accumulation of illicit wealth by criminal organizations.
The meetings to which Luján was invited take place from September 1 to Thursday. The meeting addresses issues such as the challenges raised by corruption linked to organized criminal groups, good practices and difficulties in identifying the final beneficiaries, in order to prevent acts of corruption and facilitate the recovery and restitution of assets.
In addition, issues related to the monitoring of the political declaration approved in the extraordinary session of the General Assembly against Corruption (UNGASS 2021) will be discussed.
Prior to his speech, the Peruvian representative held a meeting with Brigitte StroBel-Shaw, secretary of the Conference of Member States of the United Nations Convention against Corruption and with experts in Cooperation and Technical Assistance of the UNCAC.
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