Abstract: The object of the study is the reasons for the existence of confiscation of property in criminal legislation. The socio-legal conditionality of the named institute is designed to reveal the functional purpose of the criminal instrument, its social role and place in the system of combating crime. Special attention is paid to the method of analysis, with the help of which the necessary data are investigated to confirm the hypothesis of the social necessity of the existence of the institution of confiscation of property. The institution of criminal law confiscation of property is an effective tool of the state's anti-criminal policy, the content and purpose of which have been dynamically transformed throughout the history of Russian society. The basis of the research is a synthesis of domestic as well as foreign legislative and doctrinal provisions using the formal legal method. The main conclusions of the study are that the socio-legal conditionality of the criminal law institution of confiscation of property is expressed in compensation for the negative consequences of the crime committed by asymmetric compensation for damage to legally protected public relations. Confiscation of property acts as a means of criminal law repression, designed to impose on the convicted person the obligation to suffer the negative consequences of the crime committed by him. Through the institution of confiscation, the criminal legislator focuses on law-abiding behavior related to economic and financial activities. The novelty of the study is represented by a system of key factors (reasons) justifying the need for the existence of the institution of confiscation of property in domestic criminal legislation.