Le Premier Ministre va présenter le 5 décembre 2023 son nouveau projet de loi concernant le Financial Crimes Commission annoncé depuis des mois.
The Financial Crimes Commission BillThe object of this Bill is to provide for the establishment of the Financial Crimes Commission (the Commission), which will be the apex agency in Mauritius to detect, investigate and prosecute financial crimes such as corruption offences, money laundering offences, fraud offences, the financing of drug dealing offences and any other ancillary offence connected thereto.
The Prevention of Corruption Act, the Asset Recovery Act, the Good Governance and Integrity Reporting Act and Part II of the Financial Intelligence and Anti-Money Laundering Act will be repealed and replaced by this new legal framework and the existing provisions of the repealed enactments will not only be retained, but rather reinforced. Accordingly, the Commission will take over the functions and powers of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC)under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Asset Recovery Investigation Division(ARID) of the Financial Intelligence Unit under the Asset Recovery Act and the Integrity Reporting Services Agency (IRSA) under the Good Governance andIntegrity Reporting Act. In addition, the Commission will henceforth be the depository of all declarations made under the Declaration of Assets Act.
To provide for more accountability and oversight in respect of case investigation and case management by the Commission, opportunity is being taken to reintroduce the Operations Review Committee, a committee which was set up under the Prevention of Corruption Act but later removed.
The Bail Act, the Banking Act, the Courts Act, the Criminal Appeal Act, the Customs Act, the Dangerous Drugs Act, the Declaration of Assets Act, theDistrict and Intermediate Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act, the Financial Intelligence and Anti-Money Laundering Act, the Financial Services Act, theGambling Regulatory Authority Act, the Income Tax Act, the Information and Communication Technologies Act, the Mauritius Revenue Authority Act, the RealEstate Agent Authority Act 2020, the Registration of Associations Act, the Trusts Act, the United Nations (Financial Prohibitions, Arms Embargo and Travel Ban)Sanctions Act and the Value Added Tax Act are being amended so as to align these enactments with this new legislation and to provide for matters connected,incidental and related thereto.
5.Moreover, savings and transitional provisions are being made so as to provide, inter alia, that any act done by ICAC, ARID and IRSA shall be deemed tohave been done, and shall continue to be done, by the Commission, more particularly –
(a)any proceedings, whether judicial or extra-judicial, started by or against ICAC, ARID or IRSA shall be deemed to have been started by or against the Commission;
(b)any investigation or enquiry started by ICAC, ARID or IRSA shall betaken over and continued by the Commission;
(c)any Order issued by a Judge or the Court in favour of or against ICAC, ARID or IRSA shall be deemed to have been issued in favour of or against the Commission; and
(d)any prosecution instituted under the Prevention of Corruption Act and under Part II of the Financial Intelligence and Anti-Money Laundering Act shall continue under those enactments as if they have not been repealed.
