Certain rules need to be tightened to provide clearer legal authority for confiscating the proceeds of crime, including when it comes to seizing and freezing funds that have been shown to have been generated in connection with crime. This is according to Minister of Justice Þorbjorg Sigriður Gunnlaugsdottir, who is announcing a new bill in this regard in March.
According to the parliamentary agenda, the bill amends the Criminal Procedure Act to achieve better results in recovering proceeds from illegal criminal activity.
Changed landscape
“In the big picture, this may just be a changed crime landscape and the authorities in Iceland, like other countries, are facing a new reality in this regard,” the Minister of Justice replies when asked for a further explanation of the bill.
She says that certain rules are being tightened up to obtain clearer legal authority for confiscating the proceeds of crime, and cites as an example the seizure and freezing of funds that are shown to have been generated in connection with a crime.
The legislation would also make the regulatory framework comparable to the regulatory frameworks of other countries, for example regarding computer crimes.
Iceland was placed on a blacklist
Gunnlaugsdottir says the bill is also part of a remedy for the fact that Iceland was given a warning in a report by the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
“Iceland was placed on such a blacklist regarding anti-corruption measures and this is just part of the remedy.”
A wide range of crimes
She also points out that Iceland is part of the Budapest Convention. Is it the Council of Europe Convention on Computer Crime that was signed in Budapest in 2001.
“This is a question of states that intend to be taken seriously in terms of actions against organized crime, cybercrime, and other crimes, we need to have comparable authorities to be able to respond to cases where such cases arise,” Gunnlaugsdóttir says, adding:
“This is quite a wide range of crimes.”
Source: Icelandmonitor.mbl.is
