Elements of the crime of money laundering Under the provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Law and the Financing of Terrorism No. (39) of 2015

Abstract

Abstract: Money laundering is a serious economic crime that aims to give the appearance of legitimacy to funds obtained from illegal sources, such as drug trafficking, corruption, or smuggling. Iraqi lawmakers have paid special attention to this crime due to its negative impact on the national economy and financial system . Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Law No. (39) of 2015 was issued to regulate the provisions for combating this crime, as it defined the acts that are considered money laundering, which have a material element, in addition to the necessity of the moral element of the crime (criminal intent), as it is an intentional crime, and it may also require the fulfillment of a special or presumed element in accordance with the legal texts regulating its provisions . The fulfillment of these elements together is necessary to establish the crime and impose the prescribed punishment on its perpetrators, based on the principle of (legality of crimes and punishments). Therefore, the Iraqi legislator had to be precise in determining the actions that constitute the material element of the crime . and also in identifying crimes that are considered a source of illegal funds (the original crime) to prevent any criminal from escaping punishment . Strengthening the judiciary’s authority to prosecute perpetrators of crimes and impose severe penalties on them, as the judiciary does not have the authority to expand the scope of the crime on its own unless there is a legal text that clearly and explicitly criminalizes the acts that constitute it or lead to it, in accordance with the principle of “the legality of crimes and penalties.” , Hence, the seriousness of the legislator’s role in organizing the elements of the crime and defining the acts that constitute it in a manner consistent with its seriousness, especially since it is considered an international crime . Therefore, we will focus in our research on how the Iraqi legislator organizes the elements of the crime of money laundering in light of the provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Law No. (39) of 2015 and whether it is successful in its criminal policy followed in criminalizing the acts that constitute it . Thus, confronting its criminal danger and whether it is treated in determining its elements as one of the crimes of danger whose realization does not require the realization of its criminal result or as one of the crimes of harm whose realization of its criminal result is required, and what are the elements that constitute it . © 2023 TUJR, College of Law, Tikrit University