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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 May 2018
On December 7, 2016, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) made an order indicating provisional measures in Immunities and Criminal Proceedings (Equatorial Guinea v. France), a case concerning the trial of Equatorial Guinea's second vice-president in charge of defense and security, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, for alleged money laundering in France. This ongoing case highlights the expansive jurisdictional reach of anti-money laundering laws but so far offers no guidance as to whether it may be limited by official immunities or the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states.
1 Immunities and Criminal Proceedings (Eq. Guinea v. Fr.), Provisional Measures Order, 2016 ICJ Rep. 1148 (Dec. 7) [hereinafter Order].
2 Cour d'appel [regional court of appeal] Paris, May 23, 2016, Requisitoire definitif aux fins de disjonction, de non-lieu et de renvoi partiels devant le tribunal correctionnel at 5, available as Annex I to Equatorial Guinea's Application Instituting the Proceedings (June 13, 2016), available at http://www.icj-cij.org/en/case/163/institution-proceedings.
3 Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Gov. Affairs, Permanent Subcomm. on Investigations, 111th Cong., Keeping Foreign Corruption out of the United States: Four Case Histories 46–47 (2010); Stipulation and Settlement Agreement, U.S. v. One Michael Jackson Signed Thriller Jacket, No. 2:11-cv-03582-GW-SS (C.D. Cal. Oct. 10, 2014).
4 Order, supra note 1, at 1153.
5 Id. at 1155.
6 Id. at 1151.
7 Id. at 1171.
8 Immunities and Criminal Proceedings (Eq. Guinea v. Fr.), Application Instituting the Proceedings, ¶¶ 35–40 (June 13, 2016).
9 Id.
10 Public Sitting, Verbatim Record, Immunities and Criminal Proceedings (Eq. Guinea v. Fr.), at 11 (Oct. 19, 2016), available at http://www.icj-cij.org/files/case-related/163/163-20161019-ORA-02-00-BI.pdf.
11 Order, supra note 1, at 1160.
12 See Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 (Dem. Rep. Congo v. Belg.), 2002 ICJ Rep. 21 (Feb. 14, 2002). Cf. Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 (Dem. Rep. Congo v. Belg.), Sep. Op. Higgins, Kooijmans and Buergenthal, 2002 ICJ Rep. 88. See also Hazel Fox & Philippa Webb, The Law of State Immunity 564–566 (2015).
13 Order, supra note 1, at 1166.
14 Public Sitting, Verbatim Record, Immunities and Criminal Proceedings (Eq. Guinea v. Fr.), at 24 (Oct. 18, 2016), available at http://www.icj-cij.org/files/case-related/163/163-20161018-ORA-01-00-BI.pdf".
15 Order, supra note 1, at 1167.
16 Public Sitting, Verbatim Record, Immunities and Criminal Proceedings (Eq. Guinea v. Fr.), at 11 (Feb. 19, 2018), available at http://www.icj-cij.org/files/case-related/163/163-20180219-ORA-01-00-BI.pdf".
17 Id.
18 Heba Shams, The Fight Against Extraterritorial Corruption and the Use of Money Laundering Control, 7 Law & Bus. Rev. Am. 85, 129–132 (2001); Guy Stessens, Money Laundering: A New International Law Enforcement Model 216–217 (2000).
19 Council Directive 2015/849 on the Prevention of the Use of the Financial System for the Purposes of Money Laundering or Terrorist Financing [2015] O.J. (L. 141).
20 U.S. v. Lazarenko, No. 00-cr-0284-01 CRB (N.D. Cal. Feb. 4, 2010), Amended Judgment; R. v. Ibori [2014] 1 Cr. App. Rep. (S) 73 (Eng.).
21 Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, Pub. L. No. 114-328, Subtitle F, 130 Stat. 2000 (2016); Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law), S.C. 2017, c. 21 (Can.).
