Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Act (Revised Edition 2020)

Summary

This is a Virgin Islands statute (not an FSC-issued regulatory instrument) that enables the Virgin Islands to cooperate with other countries in criminal proceedings and investigations, and implements the Vienna Convention against illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. It sets out mechanisms for serving overseas legal process, obtaining and providing evidence across borders, transferring prisoners to give evidence, enforcing overseas forfeiture orders, and policing drug trafficking by sea.

• Mutual service of process: Establishes procedures for the Director of Public Prosecutions and Commissioner of Police to serve overseas criminal process in the Virgin Islands, and for Virgin Islands process to be served overseas.
• Mutual provision of evidence: Allows a Judge or the Governor to issue letters of request seeking or providing evidence for use in criminal proceedings or investigations in the Virgin Islands or overseas, including safeguards for fiscal offences and treaty conditions.
• Prisoner transfer: Permits, subject to consent, the transfer of a Virgin Islands prisoner overseas (and an overseas prisoner into the Virgin Islands) to give evidence or assist an investigation.
• Additional cooperation powers: Empowers the Director of Public Prosecutions to give directions and provides for enforcement of overseas forfeiture orders in the Virgin Islands.
• Vienna Convention implementation: Regulates manufacture and supply of scheduled substances useful for manufacturing controlled drugs, criminalises concealing or transferring proceeds of drug trafficking, and imposes interest on unpaid confiscation orders.
• Offences at sea: Grants enforcement officers powers to stop, board, search and detain Virgin Islands ships and ships used for illicit drug traffic, with associated offences (obstruction, false statements, non-compliance) punishable by a fine not exceeding $5,000.

The Act is primarily a framework of governmental and law-enforcement powers rather than a set of ongoing compliance obligations for regulated financial institutions; it creates duties for government officials (Governor, Director of Public Prosecutions, Commissioner of Police, enforcement officers) and criminal offences for individuals who obstruct, fail to comply with, or give false information to enforcement officers, or who conceal or transfer drug trafficking proceeds.

Key obligations

• A person must not intentionally obstruct an enforcement officer performing functions under Schedule 3, on pain of a fine not exceeding $5,000.
• A person must comply with lawful requirements made by an enforcement officer under Schedule 3 (e.g. producing documents, submitting to search), absent reasonable excuse.
• A person must not knowingly or recklessly make a false statement, or intentionally fail to disclose a material particular, when giving information required by an enforcement officer.
• A person must not conceal or transfer the proceeds of drug trafficking (section 13 offence).
• The Commissioner of Police, when directed to serve overseas process, must promptly inform the Director of Public Prosecutions in writing of the outcome of service or the reason for failure.
• Evidence obtained via a letter of request must not be used for purposes other than that specified, and documents/articles must be returned to the requesting authority once no longer needed unless the authority indicates otherwise.

Applies to

persons subject to criminal proceedings or investigations, ship masters and crew, persons on Virgin Islands ships or ships used for illicit drug traffic, prisoners subject to transfer for evidence purposes, government officials (Governor, Director of Public Prosecutions, Commissioner of Police, enforcement officers)

Related documents

• Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) (Amendment) Act, 2023 (No. 14 of 2023) amends this document
• Criminal Justice (International Cooperation) (Amendment) Act, 2021 amends this document