MONACO Law and Practice Contributed by: Donald Manasse, Donald Manasse Law Offices
In criminal proceedings, the investigating mag - istrate may obtain all information and documen - tation necessary for the “manifestation of the truth” , and the civil party victim will have access to the file and thus the documentation. However, no use can be made of it in related civil pro - ceedings, unless authorised by the investigating magistrate or a prosecutor, because the informa - tion is covered by the “secrecy of the instruction” until such time as the investigation is terminated and the matter is tried. 2.4 Procedural Orders As indicated in 1.7 Prevention of Defendants Dissipating or Secreting Assets , the seizure orders are filed ex parte and attempting this prior to trial is always an appropriate step. Because the orders are ex parte, the current presiding judge is particularly attentive to the loyalty of the party requesting them. The presiding judge will refuse any such ex parte request once litigation has begun, because it is felt that an ex parte request in that event is disloyal if the other party is not informed. 2.5 Criminal Redress Victims of fraud often seek redress through the criminal process, becoming parties in the inves - tigation, with access to the file. If they file a complaint with the investigating magistrate with constitution de partie civile , they will be required to deposit a bond, which will be established by the investigating magistrate in accordance with the victims’ financial situation and is usually not more than EUR15,000. Participation in the criminal investigation does not prevent the same victim from initiating a civil lawsuit, which may then be suspended pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.
The civil statute of limitations is suspended dur - ing the criminal investigation, but if the investiga - tion does not result in the defendant being held over for a criminal trial, then the limitation period may be considered not to have tolled and there is a risk that any subsequent civil procedure will be time-barred. 2.6 Judgment Without Trial A civil trial will only consist of oral argument by respective counsel (and this will often be reduced to filing the written pleadings and sup - porting documentation without oral argument; this was particularly the case during the pan - demic). There is no live testimony by the parties or witnesses in a civil trial. There is no possibil - ity for a directed verdict where the defence is unmeritorious (or for a motion to dismiss a case where the complaint is unmeritorious or frivo - lous). The court may restrict the time available for oral argument if it considers the pleadings to have sufficiently addressed the issues. A judgment can be obtained if a defendant does not appear (by default), provided satisfactory efforts have been made to serve through the designated authorities under the Hague Con - vention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (the “Hague Service Convention” ), or where the defendant does not continue in their defence once they have designated counsel. In this case, the judgment will be considered con - tradictory or adversarial. 2.7 Rules for Pleading Fraud Members of the Monaco Bar, which is restricted to Monaco nationals, are expected to respect the truth and to exercise the profession with dig - nity, good conscience and loyalty (Article 14 of Law 1.0476 of 28 July 1982). Foreign lawyers pleading before the Monaco courts are expected
272 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook