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III. The Reporting Obligation
under Article 61 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure
A notary “who, in the exercise of his or her functions, becomes
aware of a crime (the most serious category of offence under
Monegasque criminal law) or a délit (an intermediate category
of criminal offence) must immediately inform the Prosecutor
General and transmit to that judicial authority all information,
documents and instruments capable of enabling its prosecution”.
Although the provision thus instructs the notary to notify
the Prosecutor General, it is not accompanied by any
sanction, which might suggest that, in practice, the notary
would remain free not to report the crime or the délit.
Such is not the case.
The reporting obligation imposed on the notary constitutes
a social interest that prevails over the protection of
professional secrecy: even in the absence of criminal
sanctions, the notary remains bound to comply with it in
the interests of justice, and may moreover incur disciplinary
proceedings.
IV. Combating Money Laundering,
the Financing of Terrorism and the
Proliferation of Weapons of Mass
Destruction, and Corruption
In the context of anti-money-laundering efforts3, the
professional secrecy of notaries has been signifi cantly
reduced with respect to the Monegasque Financial Security
Authority (AMSF). In addition, notaries, like bankers, now
bear the substantial responsibility of detecting money-
laundering offences.
Thus, the notary, who has been an obliged entity under
AML/CFT rules since 1993, is required, on pain of criminal
sanctions, to do more than simply act as a declarant: he or
she must implement due diligence measures in accordance
with the risk assessment of his or her activity and must fi le
suspicious transaction reports with the AMSF.
Suspicious transaction reports concern instances of money
laundering, their predicate criminal and tax offences, as
well as the fi nancing of terrorism.
As to what should be understood by “suspicion”, and
taking the applicable texts at face value, my own view is
that suspicion exists whenever there is no certainty of non-
laundering or of a lawful transaction.
It should be noted that the identity of the declarant never
appears in the material transmitted by the AMSF to the
judicial authorities or to any other partner authority.
3 | Law No. 1.162 of 7 July 1993, repealed and replaced by Law No. 1.362 of 3 August 2009 currently
in force, as amended on numerous occasions, most recently by Law No. 1.565 of 3 December 2024.
V. Preliminary Investigation4
Article 81-6-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides
that the Prosecutor General or, with his authorisation,
the offi cer of the criminal investigation police may, upon
a formal request from the Prosecutor General, obtain
from any notary who consents to it the communication of
information and the provision, where appropriate in copy
form, of any documents he or she may hold that are useful
for establishing the truth.
Article 81-6-2 states that notaries may not be required under
Article 81-6-1 to disclose facts revealed to them by reason
of their professional capacity, except in cases where the law
expressly obliges them to report such facts.
Nevertheless, the text adds that notaries may, if they believe
themselves authorised to do so, provide their testimony
where they have been released from professional secrecy by
those who have confi ded in them.
In the context of a preliminary investigation or an
investigation in fl agrante delicto, the disclosure of
information held by a notary in relation to instruments
executed by him or her, or the issuance of copies of such
4 | It is governed by Articles 81-1 to 81-13 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, established by Law No.
1.533 of 9 December 2022, as amended by Law No. 1.553 of 7 December 2023 and Law No. 1.559 of 29
February 2024.
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