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1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable, under the conditions set out in paragraph 2 of this Article, the confiscation of instrumentalities, proceeds or property as referred to in Article 12, or proceeds or property transferred to third parties as referred to in Article 13, where criminal proceedings have been initiated but could not be continued because of one or more of the following circumstances:

(a) illness of the suspected or accused person;

(b) absconding of the suspected or accused person;

(c) death of the suspected or accused person;

(d) the limitation period for the relevant criminal offence prescribed by national law is below 15 years and has expired after the initiation of criminal proceedings.

2. Confiscation without a prior conviction under this Article shall be limited to cases where, in the absence of the circumstances set out in paragraph 1, it would have been possible for the relevant criminal proceedings to lead to a criminal conviction for, at least, offences liable to give rise, directly or indirectly, to substantial economic benefit, and where the national court is satisfied that the instrumentalities, proceeds or property to be confiscated are derived from, or directly or indirectly linked to, the criminal offence in question.