A bill amending the Proceeds of Crime Act proposes that defendants in financial crime cases be allowed to file a single court application to allow for the payment of recurring fees, such as home loans and school fees, when a freezing order is issued, Minister for Justice Jonathan Attard said.

This is one of a number of amendments which are being proposed in this bill, which aims to address court deficiencies identified over the last "two or three years" arising from financial crime cases, he said.

The minister said that the proposed bill has been approved by cabinet and the first reading was done in Parliament. The publishing and the second reading of the bill are expected in the coming days.

In the case of attachment orders, the bill proposes a new termination period of six months rather than the current one year.

This process usually takes place before the duration of the trial, whilst the defendant is being investigated for their alleged financial crimes. During this process, the bill also proposes the releasing of funds for a decent living. The Minister explained that the amount to be decided will be based on the national median wage as per the National Statistics Office.

He said that such a process was never tackled before in these criminal cases, and thus the defendant would have all their assets frozen prior to being found guilty by the court.

Moreover, in the case of the same court order, a new amendment will also be introduced obliging the courts to notify banks directly that the attachment order has expired when the six months would have passed.

In the instance of a freezing order,  apart from the proposed single court application for the releasing of funds for identified recurring expenses, the bill is also proposing that the burden to identify what property or the amount of funds to be frozen fall on the prosecution at this stage, rather than at a later stage by the asset recovery bureau.

If the prosecution fails to do this within 90 days of the order being issued, which can also be extended by another 90 days, the freezing order would be dropped after the defendant files a request.

On this matter, a right of appeal for both the prosecution and the defence will also be introduced.

Regarding which assets and the amount of funds to be frozen, it is also being proposed that this can be varied on request of both parties. In this scenario the accused will also be able to file a court request to be given, as a maximum, the equivalent of the current average annual wage. The accused will also be able to file a court order for their businesses to continue operating.

According to the bill, after a court delivers a guilty verdict, it would need to identify the amount to be confiscated, in terms of the proceeds of financial crime.

Moreover, the court will also need to identify the property or the assets from which the confiscated proceeds need to be taken.

Apart from the right to appeal by both parties from the court's decision on a defendant's guilt or innocence, a new right of appeal procedure will also be introduced with regards to the proceeds that are confiscated.

Moreover, through the bill, third parties who are affected will also have a new right for them to fight against the confiscation of property in which they have an interest. This process can be initiated by filing a case in the civil court.

Attard delivered the media briefing alongside Antonio Mizzi, the Commissioner of Laws.

He also mentioned that between October 1, 2020, to October 31 2023 the office of the Attorney General prosecuted 84  cases of which one of the accusations is of money laundering.