Art. 20 Authorisation by a judicial authority | Anti-money laundering authority regulation (AMLAR) | AML

This article is a procedural companion to Article 19, which governs on-site inspections.

It addresses the specific scenario where national law requires judicial authorisation before such an inspection can proceed.

It carefully delineates the boundaries of what a national judicial authority can and cannot scrutinise when reviewing an authorisation request, ensuring that oversight at the national level does not encroach on the Authority's supervisory autonomy or the EU's judicial supremacy.

Important points:

The Authority is required to apply for judicial authorisation where national law demands it before conducting an on-site inspection.
National judicial authorities can verify that the Authority's decision is authentic and that coercive measures are not arbitrary or excessive, but they cannot review the necessity of the inspection or access the Authority's file.
The lawfulness of the Authority's decision is reserved exclusively for the Court of Justice of the European Union to review.

1. If an on-site inspection provided for in Article 19 requires authorisation by a judicial authority in accordance with national law, the Authority shall apply for such an authorisation.
1. Where an authorisation as referred to in paragraph 1 is applied for, the national judicial authority shall verify that the decision of the Authority is authentic and that the coercive measures envisaged are neither arbitrary nor excessive having regard to the subject matter of the inspection. In its control of the proportionality of the coercive measures, the national judicial authority may ask the Authority for detailed explanations, in particular relating to the grounds the Authority has for suspecting that an infringement of the acts referred to in Article 1(2) has taken place, the seriousness of the suspected infringement and the nature of the involvement of the person subject to the coercive measures. However, the national judicial authority shall not review the necessity for the inspection or demand to be provided with the information on the Authority’s file. The lawfulness of the Authority’s decision shall be subject to review only by the Court of Justice of the European Union.