Rethinking Money Laundering & Financing of Terrorism in International Law

In Rethinking Money Laundering & Financing of Terrorism in International Law: Towards a New Global Legal Order, Roberto Durrieu provides a broad and original analysis of the phenomenon of money laundering, through a thorough examination of the financing of terrorism. The necessity of excluding the financing of terrorism from the legal definition of money laundering is clearly illustrated through extensive, original and comparative research.

In addition, the book advocates the recognition of money laundering as an international crime strictu sensu that can be tried by a special international tribunal. The hidden, mutable, complex and global nature of the crime must be addressed multilaterally through a new, integrated and more effective global legal order which is consistent and compatible with civil guarantees and human rights principles.

Part I studies the main extra-legal and legal aspects of money laundering by analyzing the meaning, causes and effects of this phenomenon and their link with the financing of terrorism, with special attention to the interconnection between the so-called preventive/regulatory AML-CFT system and the punitive approach. Part II provides a global-comparative analysis to determine whether or not the adoption of money laundering offences is consistent with sound principles of criminal law and criminal procedure. Finally, Part III examines the jurisdictional problems with respect to extra-territorial and large-scale money laundering cases.

The book offers nuanced and thought-provoking answers to questions regarding the prohibition of money laundering, the financing of terrorism, and the relationship between them, the current state of associated International Law, the need for future action, and the human rights consequences of these crimes.