Examination of Mechanisms and Challenges in the Collection of Evidence in the Crime of Money Laundering in Iranian and English Criminal Law
Keywords:
Money laundering, evidence procurement, financial and digital evidence, Iranian criminal law, English criminal law, criminal policy, proceeds of crimeAbstract
Money laundering, as one of the most complex transnational economic crimes, constitutes a serious threat to the integrity of financial systems and the effectiveness of criminal justice administration. The indirect nature of this offense—realized through the transformation, transfer, and concealment of proceeds derived from predicate crimes—has rendered its detection and proof a highly technical, multi-layered process dependent upon financial and digital evidence. The present study adopts a comparative approach to examine the mechanisms for evidence gathering in money laundering offenses within Iranian and English criminal law and analyzes the role of legal instruments, specialized institutions, and institutional approaches in both systems concerning the detection and evidentiary substantiation of this crime. The findings indicate that, within Iranian criminal law, the collection of money laundering evidence is primarily conducted within the framework of criminal procedure under the direct supervision of judicial authorities, while institutions such as the Financial Intelligence Unit and financial supervisory bodies perform supportive and non-independent roles in the evidentiary process. Although this approach emphasizes judicial legitimacy and the protection of citizens’ rights, it encounters limitations regarding procedural efficiency, access to financial data, and the technical validation of evidence. In contrast, English criminal law, relying on the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Criminal Finances Act 2017, provides specialized authorities with a range of independent and preventive instruments—including production orders, bank account freezing orders, and unexplained wealth orders—which enable rapid and effective intervention in suspicious financial flows. The study concludes that enhancing the effectiveness of Iran’s legal system in combating money laundering requires gradual legal reforms, strengthening the institutional role of the Financial Intelligence Unit, expanding financial legal instruments, and developing technical frameworks for the admissibility of financial and digital evidence. Such reforms may establish a reasonable balance between criminal justice efficiency and the protection of fundamental individual rights.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Sina Puladi (Author); Mazher Khajevand; Ali Ghorbani, Asghar Abbasi (Author)
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