2025 Judicial Year

On 1 October 2025, the traditional Solemn Opening of the Courts and Tribunals was held at the Palais de Justice, attended by the highest authorities of the Principality of Monaco.

Our partner lawyers Erika BERNARDI, Sarah FILIPPI, Géraldine GAZO, Maeva ZAMPORI, Grégoire GAMERDINGER, and Thomas GIACCARDI, along with our associates, wish you a successful start to the new judicial year! Together, we will support you with confidence and excellence.

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The speeches given by representatives of the judiciary provided an opportunity to review the past judicial year and highlight the issues and challenges ahead:

→ Activity of Monegasque courts for the 2024/25 judicial year (increase in litigation)

COURT OF APPEAL

• 10% increase in the number of civil rulings: 135 (compared to 123 in 2023/24).
• Stable number of rulings in criminal matters: 44 in correctional matters (compared to 46 in 2023/24) and 2 judgments in criminal matters (as in 2023/24).
• Nearly 35% increase in the number of rulings in the Chamber of Council (mixed activity: civil, particularly for appeals on guardianship measures; criminal as the Investigation Chamber): 181 judgments (compared to 133 in 2023/24).
• Significant litigation relating to requests for the release of criminal seizures, release of funds seized by investigating judges in economic and financial cases, particularly in money laundering cases.
• Processing times: approximately four months for appeals relating to judgments of the Criminal Court between the appeal and the hearing date, for the Council Chamber, and for the Civil Chamber when the case is ready for trial.
• Case backlog: no backlog in the Council Chamber and the Criminal Appeals Chamber except for cases scheduled for trial (the oldest of which is currently set for January 2026); a "rotating" backlog of 200 cases in the civil division.

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

• Increase in the number of civil judgments: 526 judgments (compared to 482 in 2023/24).
• Increase in the number of criminal judgments: 409 criminal judgments (compared to 392 in 2023/24).

INVESTIGATION OFFICES (3)

• More than 100% increase in the number of cases completed: 96 (compared to 46 in 2023/24).
• Recourse in a large number of cases to requests for international mutual legal assistance, which may slow down the investigation of cases (delays in transmission and waiting for a response).

COURT OF REVIEW

• Increase in the number of decisions: 70 (compared to 65 in 2023/24).
• Very quick turnaround times.

SUPREM COURT

• Increase in the number of decisions: 30 (compared to 24 in 2023/24).

→ Activity of the Public Prosecutor's Office for the 2024/25 judicial year (general increase)

• 34% increase in the number of complaints and reports.
• Close monitoring of nearly 400 preliminary investigations, including around 100 relating to money laundering.
• More prosecutions under fast-track summary proceedings: 52 cases (an increase of nearly 10% compared to 2023/24) and in particular 10 money laundering cases (compared to 4 in 2023/24).
• Sharp increase in the number of people convicted of money laundering: 28 in 2025, with 8 cases heard to date as of 31 December 2025 and 9 others scheduled for early 2026 (compared to 29 in 2024, 9 in 2023 and 4 in 2022).
• Proceedings for failure to report suspicious transactions under the AML/CFT-P-C legislation (Law No. 1.362): none in 2025 (compared to 7 in 2024 and 12 in 2023). It should be noted that a compliance officer was convicted in 2025 for his active participation in counterfeiting, fraud and VAT fraud.
• Significant seizures: assets seized totalling nearly €120 million (consisting of cash, bank accounts and real estate), in addition to the half a billion euros worth of assets seized by investigating magistrates (€531 million in June 2025).
• Confiscation: in a case of aggravated money laundering, two properties (purchased for €10 million in 2017 and 2018, and therefore potentially worth more today) were confiscated and transferred to the Seized and Confiscated Assets Management Service to be sold.
• 10% increase in the number of incarcerations and 20% increase in their average duration (92 places in Monaco prison, with an occupancy rate of less than 50%).
• Increase in requests for foreign legal assistance: in particular, but not exclusively, a sharp 65% increase in requests from France (from nearby courts (Nice and Marseille), the national financial prosecutor's office and the national court for combating organised crime).

→ Towards the creation of new criminal proceedings (for faster processing)

• Submission by 6 June 2026 at the latest of a Government bill transforming parliamentary draft law no. 266 establishing guilty plea and criminal settlement procedures, based on the French mechanisms of appearance on prior admission of guilt (CRPC) (Articles 495-7 to 495-16 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure) and judicial agreements in the public interest (CJIP) (Article 41-1-2 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure).

→ Objectives

• Action against violence towards women and vulnerable persons: increase in cases of abuse of weakness in 2025; in cases of theft, prison sentences imposed in more than half of cases; (excluding criminal offences) in cases of violence, prison sentences account for 1/5 of convictions.
• Continued modernisation of the criminal records held by the Public Prosecutor's Office: digitisation project (nearly 4,000 criminal records issued in 2024/25, or 15 to 20 per working day).

Sources :

• Speech by Mr Francis Jullemier-Millasseau, First President of the Court of Appeal
• Speech by Mr Stéphane Thibault, Attorney General
• Government press release of 2 October 2025