Proceeds of Criminal Conduct (Designated Countries and Territories) Order, 1999

Summary

This 1999 Order, made under the Proceeds of Criminal Conduct Act, 1997, designates a list of foreign countries and territories whose criminal confiscation orders and related court proceedings can be recognised and enforced by the Virgin Islands High Court. It sets out evidentiary rules, procedural modifications to the Act, and the mechanism for registering and enforcing external confiscation orders made by courts in those designated countries.

• Designated countries: Schedule 1 lists Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, with their appropriate authorities for mutual assistance purposes.
• Modified application of the Act: Schedule 2 modifies numerous sections of the Proceeds of Criminal Conduct Act (definitions, realisable property, interest on unpaid sums, restraint and charging orders, garnishee orders) as they apply to external confiscation orders from designated countries.
• Evidence rules: Certificates and authenticated documents from the appropriate authority of a designated country (as to proceedings, unpaid sums, notification, or property recovered) are made admissible as evidence in Virgin Islands court proceedings without further proof.
• Registration of external orders: Section 33 empowers the High Court, on application by the Attorney General on behalf of a designated country's government, to register an external confiscation order if satisfied it is in force, not subject to appeal, and enforcement would not be contrary to the interests of justice; the Attorney General may block registration on public interest grounds.
• Currency conversion and interest: Sections 8 and 9 provide for reducing the amount payable under a domestic confiscation order by property recovered abroad, and for converting foreign currency amounts using the exchange rate on the date of recovery or registration; a bank officer's certificate of the prevailing exchange rate is admissible evidence.
• Protections and prosecution consent: Police officers and the Reporting Authority are immune from suit for acts done in good faith under the Act, and prosecutions for certain offences (sections 28 to 31) require the Attorney General's consent.

The Order is primarily a legal and procedural instrument for the High Court, the Attorney General and the Governor in handling cross border confiscation matters, rather than a document imposing ongoing compliance duties on financial institutions, though banks may occasionally be asked to certify exchange rates as evidence.

Key obligations

• No prosecution for an offence under section 28, 29, 30 or 31 of the Proceeds of Criminal Conduct Act may be instituted without the consent of the Attorney General.
• Applications for restraint or charging orders relating to designated country proceedings must be supported by an affidavit meeting the requirements of the inserted section 18A.

Applies to

High Court, Attorney General, Governor, police officers, Reporting Authority, banks (limited role, certifying exchange rates as evidence)