Introduction of guilty plea and penal agreement procedures: tabling of Bill No. 1118

Bill No. 1118 establishing guilty plea and penal agreement procedures, received on 15 October 2025 by the Parmiament, stems from Draft Law No. 266 adopted on 4 December 2024.

NB: A Draft Law adopted by Parliament (Conseil Bational ) is sent to the government, which has the option of turning it into a bill or suspending the legislative process.

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SUMMARY

Purpose of the reform

Bill No. 1118 creates 33 new articles (38-3 to 38-4-16, 224-1 and 224-2) within the Code of Criminal Procedure (CPP), in order to introduce two new types of criminal proceedings subject to approval by the president of the Court of First Instance:

• the "guilty plea" ("plaider coupable") procedure (for natural persons) allowing "the public prosecutor to propose one or more penalties to a defendant, provided that the latter acknowledges the materiality and legal classification of the facts and accepts the proposed penalties" (Explanatory memorandum to Bill No. 1118);
• the "penal agreement" ("convention pénale") procedure (for legal persons and the natural persons representing them) "concluded between the public prosecutor and a legal person or its representative who is the subject of proceedings. This agreement does not require any admission of guilt by the person, only the reality of the facts, and sets out the obligations of the public prosecutor." (ibid.)

These procedures "take into account the interests of the victim by granting them a legitimate place" and "take place in the mandatory presence of the lawyer of the person implicated, which guarantees respect for the rights of the defence." (ibid.)

Bill No. 1118 is thus in line with "continental law systems for transactional procedures such as appearance on prior admission of guilt or judicial agreements in the public interest in French law. These mechanisms offer the advantage of reconciling procedural speed, the effectiveness of prosecutions and the requirement for fundamental procedural guarantees, in particular with regard to respect for the rights of the defence and the rights of victims." (ibid.)

The Government amended the initial mechanism envisaged by Bill No. 266.

Objectives of the reform

• to bring Monegasque criminal procedure into line with FATF standards, following up on "recommendation b of immediate outcome 8 of the MONEYVAL report published in January 2023 (page 54 of the report), which recommended that the Principality of Monaco: "Legislation should be amended to provide that the investigating and prosecuting authorities have sufficient powers in relation to confiscation and provisional measures covering all predicate offences." It is therefore essential to allow the Public Prosecutor's Office to order confiscations in cases of offences underlying money laundering." (Explanatory memorandum to Bill No. 1118)
• to meet "the requirement for judicial agility, particularly in complex or economically intensive cases" by modernising the Monegasque criminal justice system: supplementing the mechanisms in force, which are "essentially centred around the traditional criminal trial", with "more flexible and faster judicial mechanisms" adapted to "new forms of crime, often transnational", attributable to natural or legal persons who take advantage of "the globalisation of trade, the opacity of certain financial circuits and the speed of digital flows". (ibid.)

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MORE DETAILS (before submission to the Parliamentary Committee)

¤ Guilty plea procedure (natural persons)

Draft Articles 38-3 to 38-3-13 CPP :

→ Conditions under which the Attorney General (Procureur Général "PG") may resort to the guilty plea procedure:

• A natural person of legal age who admits guilt
• for the acts of which they are accused and which fall within the scope of the offences listed (wide range of offences covered), including offences underlying or related to money laundering (wide range of offences covered)
• and who is assisted by a solicitor (avocat).

The public prosecutor (PG) may propose a guilty plea to one or more of the persons involved in the same case, which may concern all or part of the charges. The investigation or judicial inquiry continues for the persons and charges not covered by the plea.

→ The investigating judge has the power to initiate the guilty plea procedure himself (new Article 224-1 CPP)

The investigating judge may, either on his own initiative or at the written request of the PG, issue an order transferring the proceedings to the PG for the purpose of implementing the guilty plea procedure, subject to the following conditions:

1. the person concerned is charged or placed under the status of assisted witness; and
2. the person concerned acknowledges the facts and accepts the criminal classification; and
3. the facts constitute one of the offences referred to in the third paragraph of Article 38-3; and
4. the PG has given his written consent to use this procedure when the investigating judge acts ex officio.

→ Initial phase:

• The PG may inform the accused, before they appear before him, of the sentences he intends to propose.
• The PG may also invite the victim to produce the evidence necessary to assess the damage.
• The accused's solicitor has the right to consult the file and prepare with their client.
• The accused appears before the PG in the presence of the solicitor; receives all relevant information; may make observations and is offered one or more sentences; may consult freely with the solicitor at any time outside the presence of the PG and may request a period of five working days to accept or reject the proposed sentences in writing.

→ Penalties that may be imposed on defendants who admit to the charges:

• A fine payable to the Treasury, the amount of which may not exceed the legal limit for the offence in question;
• Imprisonment, the length of which is limited to half the legal maximum applicable to the offence;
• Confiscation under the conditions of ordinary law (Article 12 of the Criminal Code);
• Financial compensation to the victim;
• Daily fines (Articles 26-1 et seq. of the Criminal Code);
• Community service (Travaux d'intérêt général) (Articles 26-4 et seq. of the Criminal Code);
• Additional penalties incurred for the offence in question.

The PG must proportion the penalties proposed to the seriousness of the facts and the personality of the perpetrator (individualisation of the penalty).

The agreement reached may include a clause relating to the entry (or non-entry) of the conviction in the criminal record (casier judiciaire), as this issue may be negotiated between the PG and the defendant.

→ If negotiations fail:

• Criminal proceedings resume their normal course (with the usual prerogatives of the PG in matters of prosecution).
• Minutes (orocès-verbal) mentioning the dates of the attempted plea bargain, the identity of the person concerned and their contact details (which makes it possible to determine the period during which the statute of limitations for public prosecution was suspended).

→ If an agreement is reached:

• The agreement is recorded in minutes (strict formalities apply, with mandatory information required to avoid the procedure being declared null and void), a copy of which must be provided to the interested party before the approval hearing before the President of the Court of First Intance (TPI) (transparency and fairness of the procedure).
• Approval hearing (in principle public, or in camera at the request of a party or the PG, when circumstances justify it): the president of the TPI (or a magistrate delegated by him) may conduct all necessary hearings of the parties and verify that the person concerned effectively acknowledges the charges and accepts the proposed penalties without reservation. If these conditions are met, the President may approve the agreement. He or she shall rule on the same day (expediency) and issue a reasoned order (transparency and legal certainty).
• The approval order (ordonnance d'homologation) has the same effect as a conviction and ensures that the agreement is enforceable.
• Circumstances in which approval of the agreement must be refused: when the defendant does not admit guilt; when they reject the proposed penalties; when they appear without legal representation; or when the agreement report contains substantial irregularities because it does not include all the required information.
• The president of the TPI has the power to refuse approval if the proposed penalties do not appear to be sufficiently individualised.
• Orders approving penalties (with the exception of those relating to compensation for the victim) and decisions refusing approval are subject to appeal.

→ Victim's rights:

• Victims who are entitled to compensation under the agreement must bring a civil action (se constituer partie civile) at the approval hearing (in order to receive compensation).
• Where the agreement between the PG and the defendant does not provide for compensation, the victim has the right to make a claim for compensation during the approval hearing. In this case, the President of the TPI shall rule immediately, without the victim being required to be present or represented (provided that they have previously brought a civil action). The President may also decide to refer the case to a subsequent hearing devoted exclusively to civil interests.

→ Note:

• In the event of failure at any stage (when the person concerned appears before the PG, at the approval stage or when the agreed penalties are enforced), the PG regains full discretion over whether to proceed with the prosecution. He may choose to: continue the search for evidence through an investigation or inquiry, or refer the person to a trial court through a common law hearing or immediate appearance, or close the case without further action.
• The PG may refer the matter back to the President of the ICC for the purpose of approving the agreement after any necessary amendments have been made.
• The statute of limitations for criminal proceedings (prescription de l'action publique) is suspended from the date of notification of the summons to appear before the PG or, where applicable, from the date of referral during which the PG proposes to use this procedure, until the day on which the failure of the procedure is established.
• By way of derogation from ordinary law (Article 11 of the Code of Criminal Procedure), the public prosecution shall only be extinguished on condition that the penalties accepted are fully enforced (within the time limits set by the agreement and, in the absence of specific provisions, within a maximum period of five years from the date of the approval order). The victim has the right to obtain compensation for their loss before a civil court despite the expiry of the public prosecution (primacy of the victim's rights, regardless of the outcome of the criminal proceedings).

¤ Penal agreement procedure (legal entity and natural person representing it)

Draft Articles 38-4 à 38-4-16 CPP:

→ Conditions under which the PG may propose a penal agrrement procedure as long as no public prosecution has been initiated:

• a legal entity or a natural person authorised to represent a legal entity, when it is implicated as the perpetrator or accomplice of one of the offences listed (generally financial offences; specifically, offences underlying money laundering),
• mandatory assistance from a solicitor (avocat),
• sufficient evidence to characterise the offence,
• acknowledgement by the accused of the materiality of the facts, it being specified that this acknowledgement does not imply an admission of guilt.

When several persons are implicated in the same case, this does not automatically lead to a plea bargain being offered to all parties, as the Director of Public Prosecutions may choose to offer a plea bargain to only some of the parties. The plea bargain may relate to only some of the facts, with the other facts being subject to criminal proceedings under ordinary law.

When the agreement is envisaged in respect of a natural person representing a legal person, the facts must be directly attributable to that person (a condition under ordinary law) and the legal person itself must be covered by an agreement for the same facts. The reverse is not required: the initiation of proceedings against the legal person does not necessarily imply the conclusion of an agreement with its representative.

→ The investigating judge and the defendant (through their solicitor) may initiate the criminal settlement procedure:

The PG has three months from receipt of the defendant's request to make a decision (his decision is not subject to appeal).

The investigating judge has the power to initiate the criminal settlement procedure himself (new Article 224-2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). He may, either on his own initiative or at the written request of the PG, order that the proceedings be transferred to the PG for the purposes of implementing the criminal settlement procedure, subject to the following conditions:

1. the person concerned is charged or placed under the status of assisted witness; and
2. the person concerned acknowledges the materiality of the facts alleged against them, without this acknowledgement constituting any admission of guilt; and
3. the facts constitute one of the offences referred to in the first paragraph of Article 38-4 and the person concerned is a legal entity or a natural person authorised to represent a legal entity; and
4. the PG has given his written consent to the use of this procedure when the investigating judge acts ex officio.

→ Terms for determining the penal agreement:

• Assessment period during which the PG and the defendant's solicitor discuss the terms of the agreement (by written correspondence and/or meetings). The defendant's solicitor has the right to consult the file before discussing it with the PG and is authorised to meet with their client in the absence of the PG. They may also disclose any information, either on their own initiative or at the request of the PG. The information thus gathered is added to the case file (if the criminal settlement fails, this information is removed from the file and destroyed unless the person concerned requests otherwise).
• The victim may be invited by the PG to provide evidence of their harm and to attend physical meetings if the PG deems it appropriate.

→ Obligations that may be imposed under a penal agreement::

• Payment of a sum to the Treasury, and in this case, bearing, up to a maximum limit, the cost of any analyses and expert assessments that may be necessary to determine the amount to be paid or to audit or reconstruct the accounts. The sum is set by the PG based on the personality of the person concerned and the gains and benefits derived from the breaches found (without exceeding three times the amount of these gains and benefits, with different ceilings depending on whether it is a legal person or the natural person authorised to represent it);
• Disposal, for the benefit of the State, of all or part of the property seized in the course of the proceedings, as well as property not seized but considered to meet the conditions for confiscation (Article 12 of the Criminal Code) and, in this case, bearing, up to a ceiling, the costs associated with the management and preservation of the property from the date of seizure until the date of the approval order;
• Compensation of the victim within a period not exceeding 5 years.
• The PG may propose that the approval hearing (audience d'homologation) be held in public or not, and that the approved agreement be or not be the subject of a press release from the public prosecutor's office.

→ Contents of the penal agreement:

• Identity and contact details of the person concerned, as well as those of the solicitor;
• Description of the alleged offences;
• Obligations imposed and the terms of their enforcement;
  Provisions relating to the publicity of the proceedings;
• Information relating to the interruption of the execution of the penal agreement and the possibility for the PG to bring proceedings against the person concerned, in the event of failure to fully execute the obligations within the agreed time limits, or in the event of partial execution where a payment plan is provided for;
• Information on the presence of a solicitor at the time of signing the agreement;
• Information on the declaration of address.

The absence of any of these items shall render the agreement null and void where such omission is detrimental to the interests of the person concerned.

→ Terms and conditions for signing the criminal settlement agreement:

• A copy of the draft agreement is given to the defendant's solicitor by the PG 15 days before signing.
• The PG conducts an interview with the defendant and their solicitor in order to proceed with the signing of the agreement.
• The penal agreement is signed by the PG and the defendant, or, where the defendant is a legal entity, by the person authorised to represent it.

→ Approval (homologation) of the penal agreement by the judge:

• After signing the agreement, the PG immediately submits a request to the President of the TPI for approval, attaching the agreement accepted by the defendant and the case file.
• The summons to the approval hearing (convocation à l'audience d'homologation) is given to the defendant at the time of signing the criminal agreement. The time between the date of signature and the date of the approval hearing varies depending on whether or not there is an identified victim (both events take place on the same day).
• Approval hearing (audience d'homologation) (public or closed, depending on the terms of the agreement): hearing of the parties; checks by the president of the TPI (agreement of the accused, validity of the use of the criminal agreement procedure, regularity of its conduct, presence of mandatory information, compliance with the obligations provided for). The president of the TPI may be replaced for the entire proceedings by another judge from his jurisdiction appointed by him.
• At the end of the hearing, the president of the TPI rules immediately (or postpones the deliberation for 15 days when the complexity of the case justifies it) on the approval of the criminal settlement (excluding compensation for the victim).
• The order approving the criminal agreement does not constitute a conviction and does not have the nature or effects of a conviction. It is not entered in the criminal record (casier judiciaire). It is immediately enforceable and not subject to appeal.
• Compensation for the victim: if the plea agreement provides for compensation and the
  victim, who is a civil party, has consented to it, the approval of this compensation is automatically granted
  by separate order, provided that all the other obligations provided for
  in the agreement have also been approved (order not subject to appeal); failing that, the president of the TPI may rule directly on the request made by the victim during the hearing (appeal possible under ordinary law, but the Court of Appeal must rule within 60 days of the date of the order, and the appeal is not suspensive), or refer the case to a new hearing devoted exclusively to civil interests, or transfer it to the Criminal Court dealing solely with civil interests.

→ Failure of the penal agreement procedure:

• Situations in which failure may be established: 1°) if, after discussions, the PG does not propose
  a criminal settlement to the accused; or 2°) if the accused refuses to sign the criminal settlement; or 3°) if the president of the TPI does not approve the settlement; or 4°) if, within the time limit specified in the agreement, the accused person does not provide evidence of: - compliance with a deadline where the plea bargain provides for payment in instalments, or - full performance of one of the obligations provided for.
• Choice of the PG in the event of failure: a) to continue an investigation; or b) to request the opening of a judicial investigation; or c) to forward the case file to the investigating judge for the purposes of resuming the investigation; or d) to refer the person concerned to a trial court, which must
  hold its first hearing within three months of the referral; or e) refer the accused to the criminal court under the immediate appearance (comparution immédiate) procedure; or f) decide to close the case without further action.

→ Note:

• The civil party may seek recovery of the compensation obtained through the enforcement of judgments and deeds, in accordance with the rules of civil procedure.
• Where no compensation is awarded, the PG must inform the victim of their right to bring a direct action (citation directe) in accordance with Article 75 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, provided that they have
  their contact details. In the event of a subsequent direct action, the file resulting from the criminal settlement procedure may be forwarded to the court hearing the case (continuity and effectiveness of the defence of the victim's rights).
• The PG is responsible for monitoring the fulfilment of the obligations of the person subject to the approved criminal settlement: the PG provides the necessary information to the person concerned so that they can fulfil their obligations, and it is their responsibility to prove that they have fulfilled their obligations at each stage.
• Interruption of the penal agreement: if the person fails to provide proof of compliance with their obligations, the Director of Public Prosecutions will issue a formal notice to do so. If there is no response, without justification, the criminal settlement agreement will be interrupted. The consequences of this termination vary depending on the obligation concerned (the payment to the Treasury and the disposal of assets are returned, unless seized, but the related costs are not refunded). The compensation paid to the victim remains valid, but will be deducted from any damages awarded in a subsequent decision.
• Outcome of the penal agreement in the event of failure: destruction and withdrawal from the proceedings file of the penal agreement and of the judge order. No one may refer to them during the rest of the proceedings. The evidence gathered and the documents submitted during the attempt at a criminal settlement are removed from the case file and destroyed, and are replaced by a report (procès-verbal) stating the start and end dates of the proceedings (to determine the period during which the statute of limitations for public prosecution was suspended), unless: - the defendant or the victim requests that the evidence they themselves have submitted be kept in the file; or - if this evidence has given rise to the payment of compensation by the defendant (in which case the order approving the compensation is kept in the file).
• Impact of the penal agreement procedure on the statute of limitations for criminal proceedings: suspension of the limitation period from the moment the Director of Public Prosecutions proposes to implement this procedure until such time as it is determined, where applicable, that it has failed; by way of derogation from Article 11 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, public prosecution shall only be extinguished after the obligations arising from the agreement have been fully fulfilled (which must take place within the time limits set by the agreement and, failing that, within a maximum period of
  5 years from the date of the approval order); the victim may seek compensation before the civil courts, notwithstanding the extinction of the public prosecution.

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