Purpose

This paper aims to focus on the concept of money laundering and explores the evolution and expansion of criminalization of predicate offences to the money laundering within the international anti-money laundering (AML) regime over the time. It proposes how to limit the size and scope of predicate offences in designing a balanced legal definition.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper opted a content analysis focussed on the criminalization aspect of offences to money laundering in the international AML regime under the United Nations Conventions (Vienna, Palermo and Corruption Convention) and Financial Action Task Force Standards.

Findings

This paper provides how the criminalization of money laundering has evolved and its definition expanded over the time. The international definition is widely drafted with wide range of predicate offences from proceeds of drug money to corruption, including terrorist financing and terrorist acts; however, the two phenomena – money laundering and terrorist financing are quiet distinct apart. This continual expansion of predicate offences quite leads legality issues such as over-criminalization and conflict with principles of criminal law. This paper suggests an approach to limit the size and scope of predicate offences to money laundering.

Practical implications

This paper includes implications for the development of a balanced approach in defining predicate offences through a qualitative limitation approach consistent with the minimalist theory of penalization of criminal law.

Originality/value

This paper attains an identified issue how the legal definition of the money laundering offence can be improved while considering rule of law and principles of criminal law concerns.

中文翻译：

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洗钱的概念：寻求法律定义

目的

本文旨在关注洗钱的概念，并探讨在国际反洗钱 (AML) 制度下，上游犯罪定罪到洗钱的演变和扩展。它建议如何在设计平衡的法律定义时限制上游犯罪的规模和范围。

设计/方法/方法

本文选择了一项内容分析，重点关注联合国公约（维也纳、巴勒莫和腐败公约）和金融行动特别工作组标准下的国际反洗钱制度中洗钱犯罪的刑事定罪方面。

发现

本文介绍了洗钱的刑事定罪如何演变及其定义随着时间的推移而扩展。国际定义被广泛起草，涉及范围广泛的上游犯罪，从贩毒所得到腐败，包括资助恐怖主义和恐怖主义行为；然而，洗钱和恐怖主义融资这两种现象是截然不同的。这种上游犯罪的不断扩大，相当导致过度刑​​事化和与刑法原则相冲突等合法性问题。本文提出了一种限制洗钱上游犯罪规模和范围的方法。

实际影响

本文包括通过与刑法惩罚的极简主义理论一致的定性限制方法，在定义上游犯罪时制定平衡方法的影响。

原创性/价值

本文提出了一个确定的问题，即如何在考虑法治和刑法原则的同时改进洗钱犯罪的法律定义。