Time limits for recognition and execution of confiscation orders
Article 20
1. The executing authority shall take the decision on the recognition and execution of the confiscation order without delay and, without prejudice to paragraph 4, no later than 45 days after the executing authority has received the confiscation certificate. 2. The executing authority shall communicate, without delay and by any means capable of producing a written record, the decision on the recognition and execution of the confiscation order to the issuing authority. 3. Unless grounds for postponement under Article 21 exist, the executing authority shall take the concrete measures necessary to execute the confiscation order without delay and, at least, with the same speed and priority as for a similar domestic case. 4. Where it is not possible, in a specific case, to meet the time limit set out in paragraph 1, the executing authority shall inform the issuing authority without delay by any means, giving the reasons for which it was not possible to meet that time limit, and shall consult with the issuing authority on an appropriate schedule for the recognition and execution of the confiscation order. 5. The expiry of the time limit set out in paragraph 1 shall not relieve the executing authority of its obligation to take a decision on the recognition and execution of the confiscation order, and to execute that order, without delay.