Page 26 - MONACO LAW REVIEW 2025-2

Enforcement of
Confiscation Orders
Emmanuelle CARNIELLO
Emmanuelle CARNIELLO
Deputy Public Prosecutor
Deputy Public Prosecutor
The penalty of confi scation, which has been steadily increasing
in frequency, has undoubtedly become the most feared
sanction - because it is the most effective - particularly in
cases involving offences linked to fraudulent appropriation.
Its purpose is to restore the offender’s assets to the condition
in which they stood before the commission of the offences, by
depriving the offender of anything used to commit an offence
or anything that ought never to have formed part of his or
her assets because it was acquired through, or thanks to, the
commission of an offence.
This sanction, which is strongly dissuasive, is the result of
a series of legislative reforms that have both expanded the
types of assets that may be confi scated under Article 12 of
the Criminal Code and reduced the possibilities of restitution
of seized assets constituting the instrument or the direct or
indirect proceeds of the offence under Article 38-2 of the
Criminal Code.
Once ordered, the confi scation penalty must be enforced.
To this end, the prior seizure of the asset concerned is not
an indispensable step, but it is an extremely effective tool
for preventing any dissipation of the asset and ensuring the
effectiveness of the confi scation order.
However, beyond the need, in certain cases, to identify
and locate the confi scated asset where it has not previously
been seized, the enforcement of a confi scation order always
requires - like any criminal sentence - that the decision
become enforceable, if not fi nal.
24
A Prerequisite for Enforcement of a
Confi scation Order
• A Final Decision
As a general rule, the periods for lodging appeals, as well
as the appeals themselves, are suspensive: they suspend
the enforcement of the conviction (the major exception to
this rule concerns arrest warrants and sentences declared
provisionally enforceable).
Thus, as a general rule extending beyond the specifi c
fi eld of money laundering, a judgment delivered by the
Tribunal correctionnel (criminal court with jurisdiction
over intermediate offences) becomes fi nal upon expiry
of the fi fteen-day time limit for appeal if it was delivered
contradictorily7
.
In cases involving minor offences (“contraventions” under
Monegasque law), the time limits for challenging judgments
delivered by the Tribunal de simple police (jurisdiction over
minor offences) are ten days for appeal and fi ve days for
opposition8
.
The fi ve-day time limit for lodging an appeal on points of
law also applies9 (neither the dies a quo - the fi rst day - nor
the dies ad quem - the last day - is counted in the fi ve-day
period). An appeal on points of law may be lodged against
judgments delivered by the Tribunal correctionnel (criminal
court with jurisdiction over intermediate offences, i.e. délits),
running from the date on which the judgment is delivered
(where it is contradictory) or from the date of its service or
notifi cation10
.
A time limit for lodging an application for review is also
available against decisions of the Tribunal criminel11 (criminal
court with jurisdiction over serious offences, i.e. crimes) as
well as - upon expiry of the time limit for opposition (fi ve or
eight days), where no opposition has been lodged - against
default judgments12 delivered respectively by the Tribunal de
simple police and the Tribunal correctionnel.
Finally, an application for review is likewise available against
judgments delivered by the Tribunal correctionnel sitting as
the appellate court for decisions of the Tribunal de simple
police13
.
This time limit for lodging an appeal on points of law is also
suspensive, except in relation to custodial sentences, which
continues to be enforced where the convicted person is
already in custody14
.
7|Articles 374-1, 406, 407 and 407-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
8|Articles 449 and 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
9|Article 473 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
10|Articles 471-472-407 and 457 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
11|Articles 362, 464 and 465 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
12|Articles 438, 455, 457 and 472 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
13|Article 455 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
14|Article 473 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.