The Constitutional Court concludes that section 32 of the Constitution provides for the
general principle protecting the rights and liberties of persons against retroactive application of
criminal law and criminal punishment unless he or she has committed an act which constituted an offense at the time it was committed. Additionally, the penalty imposed shall not exceed the
penalty provided by the law in force at the time the offense was committed. The underlying
rationale of the Anti-Money Laundering Act as stated in its accompanying principle is to combat
crime and provide measures to deter the economic motive for committing financial crimes. In
furtherance of this objective, the law provides for two separate enforcement schemes. One is
the creation of the criminal offense of money laundering for which an offender can be criminally
prosecuted. The other remedy is to bring a civil proceeding for forfeiture against the asset
involved in the offense of money laundering. A civil action of forfeiture provides for a shifting
burden of proof and contains different assumptions than those contained in the criminal
measure and does not amount to a criminal prosecution of an offender. A civil forfeiture action is
against property and is not a criminal prosecution against a person. Therefore, a civil forfeiture
action does not violate or conflict with section 32 of the Constitution at all.
The Constitutional Court concludes that section 29 of the Constitution protects the rights
and liberties from infringement except by virtue of the provisions of the law specifically enacted
for the purpose determined by the Constitution and only to the extent necessary. Section 48 of
the Constitution protects the right of ownership of property from restriction except as provided
by law. The deprivation of property rights resulting from the application of Chapter 6 of Anti-
Money Laundering Act, sections 48 through 59, are lawful measures implemented by the
Government necessary to protect the security of the public. Therefore, the procedures set forth
in sections 48 through section 59 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act do not violate sections 29
and section 48 of the Constitution.