In a report published on Wednesday 30 June, the Committee of the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism (Warsaw Convention) calls on its 34 States Parties to effectively apply the reversal of the burden of proof regarding the lawful origin of alleged proceeds or other property liable to confiscation in serious offences.
Opened for signature in 2005 and brought into force in 2008, the Convention gives national authorities the power to block suspicious transactions at the earliest possible stage, and provides for the cooperation of specialised Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) of Member-States.
It is the subject of a biennial follow-up, this year focussing on Article 3(4), which provides for the possibility of requiring the alleged offender to establish the origin of goods or proceeds liable to confiscation.
The report sets out a series of general recommendations and analyses a number of national legislations.
Sixteen of the States Parties, including - within the European Union - Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands and Portugal, have already committed to implementing Article 3(4).
Eight countries, including Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden, have announced that they will not implement it, in full or in part.
Seven others have taken this position, but already have measures in their legislation or case law to reverse the burden of proof. This is the case in Germany, Poland, Slovenia and Italy with the anti-mafia law.
Spain has elements of Article 3(4) in its system, but the Conference of the Parties notes that it does not implement it satisfactorily, and calls on all States Parties to commit to and comply with Article 3(4).
Link to the report: https://bit.ly/3Af0RDk (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)