Study-unit code: CRL 1017                        

Title: A Practical Approach to Anti-Money Laundering Legislation 

Level: Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course

ECTS: 4

Department: Criminal Law

Description

This study-unit will start from scratch, from the most basic definitions including what is money laundering and what is the rationale behind AML legislation.

The discussion will then move on to the relevant legislation, in particular the criminal offences linked with money laundering, their elements, the requirements of a valid prosecution, freezing orders and their validity or otherwise, and related issues. Attention will also be given to the actual penalties to be inflicted against guilty persons, including confiscation of criminally obtained assets. Relevant court judgements (including judgements delivered by the Constitutional Court) and their implications, will be given particular attention.

Study-unit aims

The aims are for the student:

• To learn, from scratch, in simple, understandable terms, what anti-money laundering is and how it is regulated
• To learn how this area of law is evolving, especially through court judgments
• To have opportunity to discuss practical issues and difficulties they encounter at work, and also to discuss and ask about matters they come across while doing their own reading and research.
  
  

Learning outcomes

1. Knowledge & Understanding

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

• Recall and reproduce the general underlying principles of anti-money laundering legislation
• Quote the salient court judgments and literature on the subject of anti-money laundering.

2. Skills

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

• Research and write about anti-money laundering
• Analyse and explain court judgments and literary works by experts in the field
• Interpret the relevant legislation in a knowledgeable manner
• Examine scenarios they encounter at their places of work. and apply their knowledge in practice.
  
  

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings

• Various legislation, and court judgments (all available online).
• 'Compliance with the AML/CFT International Standard: Lessons from a Cross-Country Analysis'
• (IMF Working Paper) Concepcion Verdigo Yepes (available online).
• 'Financial Intelligence Units: An Overview' (International Monetary Fund Publication Services)
• Paul Gleason & Glenn Gottselig (Editors) (available online).
• 'Towards a European Criminal Law System' (Kite) Dr Stefano Filletti