Press review - Week of 5 September 2022

Press review – Week of 5 September 2022

In this press review you will find two cases regarding the criminal prosecution of foreign nationals. First, the review addresses the conviction confirmed by the French Cour of Cassation of Rifaat Al-Assad ( Syria's former vice-president) for organized money laundering of public funds and aggravated tax fraud. Second, a Russian national (Alexander Vinnik), who served his sentence in France for money laundering as well, is being extradited to the United States. In European Union law, the CJEU confirms that the European arrest warrant does not require any diligence on the part of the issuer. And lastly, a ruling by the ECHR, asked to rule on the personal use of cannabis, confirms that it is not protected by the right to privacy.

#Anti-Bribery: **Conviction of former Syrian Vice-President confirmed by the French Cour de cassation for money laundering and embezzlement.**

On 7 September, 2022, the French Cour de cassation upheld the Paris Court of Appeal decision, convicting Rifaat Al-Assad for money laundering and embezzlement. The value of the confiscated assets should be returned to Syria in accordance with the mechanism for the restitution of assets fraudulently acquired by foreign leaders, adopted in 2021. > Read article

This intense legal battle over the extradition of Alexander Vinnik.

Alexander Vinnik, a Russian national prosecuted in cybercrime cases, has been at the center of an intense legal battle. After being convicted in France, he was trying to avoid extradition to the United States. > Read article

International Legal Developments 2021 in Review – American Bar Association

Navacelle co-author of the 2021 annual review of international legal developments of the American Bar Association International Law Section (ABA). > Read review

European arrest warrant: the CJEU shows little protection of the rights of the defense.

Is consistent with European Union law, the issuing authority’s failure to provide to the person sought under a European arrest warrant information about the reasons for the arrest and the right to challenge that decision. It even seems that European Union law requires the issuing authority not to provide this information, in order not to slow down the execution of the cooperation mechanism. > Read article

The therapeutic joint is not a right.

On 1 September, 2022, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued a decision Thörn v. Sweden in which it validated the fine imposed on the applicant, who remained severely disabled after an accident in 1994. The latter, for whom the painkillers prescribed by the doctors proved to be not very effective, chose to cultivate cannabis himself in order to ensure his personal consumption. He declares that his pains have faded and that he could, thanks to this, take up a full-time job. As this use is illegal in Sweden, he was sentenced to a 40-day fine. He invoked the disproportionate interference in his private life that his sentence entails, but this argument was not retained by the Court. > Read article