(Moneyval) Law no. 1.553 of 7 December 2023 (Part III) Fight against money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction

Law no. 1.553 of 7 December 2023 adapting legislative provisions against money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (Part III) (Part III) (JDM No 8673 of 15 December 2023) is the result of Bill 1080 of 26 July 2023 (tabled in public session and referred to the Parliament's Legislation Committee on 31 July 2023, and voted on 28 November 2023.

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Presentation

Drafted in close collaboration with the Directorate of Judicial Services, Law no. 1553 (Part III) constitutes the "Justice, Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure" component of the overall legislative reform following the MONEYVAL Committee Report published in January 2023, which recommended strengthening the effectiveness of Monaco's system in the following areas:

• investigation and prosecution of money laundering and terrorist financing - powers of the authorities;
• confiscation and provisional measures - mutual legal assistance;
• extradition procedure.

Law no. 1553 (Part III) amends the following texts:

• Code of Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Code
• Law 1.222 of 28 December 1999 on extradition
• Law 1.231 of 12 July 2000 on the professions of chartered accountant and certified accountant
• Law 1.398 of 24 June 2013 on judicial administration and organisation
• Code of Civil Procedure

The transitional provisions provide for the application of the Law:

• from 1 January 2024,
• except for the articles listed, which apply to offences committed from the day after publication of the Law in the Journal de Monaco, i.e. from 16 December 2023.

For the "Prevention, transparency of legal entities", see Law no. 1.549 (Part I) and Law no. 1.550 (Part II) published in July-August 2023. Part IV completes this framework by dealing with aspects that could not be dealt with in the previous laws and by adjusting the legislative provisions that have already been amended to ensure compliance with the recommendations of the MONEYVAL Report.

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SUMMARY

Law no. 1553 (Part III) is built around two central objectives:

1. Improving the efficiency of criminal proceedings

• Improving procedural deadlines (limiting the number of unsuccessful notifications of orders by the investigating judge; provisional composition of cases on the docket for the correctional hearing by joint decision; new possibility for the Correctional Court, in exceptional circumstances, to use videoconferencing; determination by the Correctional Court of the classification to be used in an acquittal ; possibility of ruling on the maintenance or provisional suspension of the effects of the arrest warrant without the presence of the accused in the situation where he or she has not been arrested and wishes to appear in person at the hearing; provisional composition of the cases on the docket for the appeal hearing of the judgments of the Criminal Court, set by joint decision; cases where the judgment of the Criminal Court is enforceable on expiry of the time limit for service and provisional detention regime until the hearing before the Court of Appeal);
• Strengthening of judicial supervision (broadening of the possibilities for constituting sureties; broadening of the notion of the accused's "resources" that may be taken into account by the investigating judge in setting the amount of the surety; clarification of what the surety guarantees, with reorganisation of the order of guaranteed payments); Court with jurisdiction to adjust or terminate judicial supervision where the investigating judge has referred the case to a trial court or where he has dismissed the case without it having been referred to a trial court;
• Allowing the accused person to ask the investigating judge to be placed under the status of assisted witness at any stage of the investigation;
• Extension of the jurisdiction of the Monegasque courts (with regard to Monegasques or Monegasque residents who are guilty, outside the Principality, of an offence of circumventing a decision taken by the Minister of State, of freezing funds and economic resources, without the requirement of dual criminality; with regard to a foreigner who is guilty outside the Principality of a money laundering offence where "the underlying offence was committed to the detriment of a Monegasque" (the complaint does not have to relate to a money laundering offence).
• Strengthening the powers of the authorities with regard to requisitions (highlighting the fact that professional secrecy cannot be invoked against a requisition, with changes concerning the professionals who may be the subject of an exception to this principle) and undercover operations and controlled deliveries (option to use an undercover operation when the investigation or information concerns one of the listed offences relating to organised crime and delinquency);
• Improvements to the seizure system (extension of the Public Prosecutor's seizure powers to allow the seizure of property liable to confiscation at the investigation stage; protection of bona fide third parties; exception for partial or total release); extension of the scope of assets liable to seizure and reform of the regime applicable to the protection of seized assets (introduction of the concept of 'judicial custodian'; clarification of the penalty for infringement of seized assets; new provisions relating to the procedures for returning and failing to return seized assets, reconciliation of the rights of owners with the rights of creditors);
• Creation of a "preventive control" (of vehicles, ships and luggage, outside any investigation, for the purposes of investigating and prosecuting listed serious offences);
• Substantial amendment of Law no. 1. 222 of 28 December 1999 on extradition (conditions of application of the double criminality requirement; categorisation of the grounds for refusal of extradition according to whether or not they are imperative, with additions; prioritisation of extradition requests; clarification of the stages and promotion of the efficiency of the ordinary extradition procedure : content of the extradition request, conditions under which a copy of an enforceable conviction, an arrest warrant or any other document with the same legal value will be deemed to be a certified copy, procedure for provisional arrest with extension of time limits, possibility of placement under judicial supervision and new procedural guarantees, procedure before the examining magistrate and the Court of Appeal's Chambers; creation of a simplified extradition procedure based on the consent of the person claimed; effects of extradition; adaptation of internal provisions to Monaco's international commitments).

2. Strengthening the deterrent effect of the criminal law

• Clarification of the regime and effects of the arrest warrant (prerogatives of the Criminal Court, Court of Appeal; no stay of execution during the appeal period) and updates;
• Amendment of provisions on obstruction of justice (sanction for refusal to respond to summons);
• Scope and penalties for money laundering offences (remedying evidential difficulties; increasing fines);
  
• The offences of financing terrorism and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (as with the offence of money laundering, fines will be increased; any act of trafficking in nuclear weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems and any related material or data may be classified as an act of terrorism; new acts of terrorism: financing foreign travel for the purposes of terrorism, and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction);
• Amendments relating to the Bulletin intended to be filed in the criminal record (addition of disciplinary decisions imposing bans on practice, exclusions, dismissals, revocations or striking off, or fixing a fine).
• Modification of the provisions relating to residence bans in the Principality (extension of the possibility for the courts to impose this additional penalty to all convictions for crimes or offences).
• New offence of failing to justify resources.

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