Minister for Justice Jonathan Attard, in an address to the media, presented several legislative amendments that amend various laws on the proceeds of crime, with the aim of creating effective and proportional justice.
“In view of several judgments of the Court we saw the need of this review exercise which should lead to more effective and proportional justice in the field of financial crimes”. The Minister said that these amendments are intended to create a balance between the general interest of society and the rights of suspects and the accused.
This bill amends a number of laws that deal with economic crimes such as Money Laundering, Financial Services and Markets and creates a uniform procedure regarding Attachment, Freezing and Confiscation orders. The process leading to the formulation of the bill was carried out with the participation of the Commissioner for Laws, the National Coordinating Committee on Combating Money Laundering (NCC), the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Attorney of State.
This exercise will provide an updated and more effective legislative tool at the disposal of the entities that are responsible for the fight against financial crimes.
The media were also addressed by the Commissioner for Laws, Judge Antonio Mizzi, whereby he explained how the amendments were based on several judgments of the Criminal and Constitutional Court with a specific reference to how the law is creating disproportionality between the quest to attain justice and the rights of the defendant.
The bill that deals with various laws on the proceeds of crime will consist of several legislative amendments, including:
Attachment Order:
- The period of validity of the attachment order will be reduced by half, resulting to a single term of 6 months.
- Flexibility in the amounts permissible in relation to attachment order and release money to ascertain decent basic income.
- An amendment will be introduced that provides that when an attachment order expires or is withdrawn, all the garnishees will be notified by the court automatically – thus the garnishee will be notified by the court that the attachment is no longer in force.
Freezing Order:
- Prosecution must declare which property or how much money should be frozen; and if this is not done with the filing of application within 90 days or with another extension with a request to the Court of another 90 days, the freezing order becomes null on the defendant’s application;
- There will be a right of Appeal before the Criminal Court;
- The amount / frozen property can be varied at the request of the prosecution or the defendant.
- The defendant can request up to a maximum of an average annual wage (determined periodically by the Minister) to be able to live a decent life.
- The defendant can also make a request in court to continue with the business, trade and profession.
- Requests for recurring expenses, such as loans, insurance, school fees, etc. can be made with one application.
Confiscation
- The Criminal Court after deciding to convict, must also establish the amount of the proceeds of the crime, and identify the property, assets or sum of money to be confiscated.
- There will be a right to one appeal from the conviction and the confiscation jointly.
- Third parties will have the right to object to the confiscation of property in which the third parties have an interest by filing a case in the Civil Court, First Hall (Assets Recovery Section) within six months of the confiscation.
Minister Attard explained how the current law will remain applicable to cases that started before the entry into force of these amendments, as long as the defendant does not request, by an application, for the new procedures to be applied. In that case it will be the court itself that determines the modality of the transition.
