MONEY LAUNDERING OR LAUNDERING OF THE PROCEEDS OF CRIME?

This paper aims to analyses which of the phrases money laundering or laundering the proceeds of crime is more appropriate to describe the crime provided by art. 23 of Law no. 656/2002 on prevention and sanctioning money laundering, as well as for setting up some measures for prevention and combating terrorism financing. In this respect, the article includes a survey of the important international documents in this matters ratified by Romania - United Nations Vienna Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (the Vienna Convention), the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds of Crime, The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime,Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism. To remove any ambiguities arising from the approach of the money laundering concept and to reach a conclusion, there are also presented the controversial views regarding the use of the expression money laundering in both Title and content of Law, views expressed in specialized literature.