Criminal Law Legislation Update
| Author | Sally Louise Ireland |
| Date | 01 August 2003 |
| Published date | 01 August 2003 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201830306700405 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Criminal Law
Legislation
Update
*
Sally Louise
Ireland"
Primary
legislation
passed
• The
Proceeds
of
Crime
Act
2002 received Royal Assent on 24
July 2002. The majority of its provisions are
now
in force. The Act
radically alters
the
regime for
money
laundering offences and
the
recovery of
the
procee~s
of crime.
Part 7 of
the
Act creates three
main
money
laundering offences, each
carrying a
maximum
sentence of 14 years' imprisonment. They are:
1. Concealing, disguising, converting, or transferring criminal prop-
erty or removing it from
the
jurisdiction (s. 327).
2. Entering into or becoming concerned in an arrangement which
the
defendant knows or suspects facilitates (by whatever means)
the
acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal propertyby or
on behalf of
another
person (s. 328).
3. Acquiring, using or having possession of criminal property
(s.
329).
An
extra
mens
rea
requirement is imported by s. 340. 'Criminal property'
is there defined as property
that
constitutes or represents (in whole or in
part, directly or indirectly) aperson's benefit from criminal conduct
when
the
defendant knows or suspects
that
it constitutes or represents
such abenefit.
The first change to note is
that
there is
now
no differentiation
between laundering
the
proceeds of drug trafficking
and
of
the
proceeds
of
other
criminal conduct; this will remove
the
need
for multi-count
indictments including 'composite' counts
when
the
origins of
the
prop-
erty are unclear.
Four further offences are created
that
relate to tipping-off
and
failures
to disclose
the
known
or suspected involvement of others in
money
laundering. For those in
the
'regulated sector' the offence can be com-
mitted
when
the
defendant has reasonable grounds for suspicion. These
offences are punishable by up to five years' imprisonment.
The Act creates a
new
confiscation regime, led by
the
Assets Recovery
Agency. Confiscation proceedings will
now
only take place in
the
Crown
Court. They
may
follow
any
conviction in
the
Crown Court or any
conviction in the magistrates' court where
the
defendant has been
*As at
May
2003.
tPupil, 18 Red
Lion
Court.
318
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