StAR Databases : Asset Recovery Watch | Puppet Masters | All Corruption Cases
Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier
Jurisdiction of Origin :
Position of Public Officials/Persons (Years in Office):
President (1971-1986)
Jurisdiction of Recovery Effort / Asset Location:
Jurisidction of Asset Recovery - Description:
Location of Recovery Effort
Recovery Start (Year):
1988
Recovery End (Year):
1990
Money laundering Implicated?:
Yes
Legal Basis for Recovery:
Private Civil Action
Status of Asset Recovery :
Completed
Asset Recovery Chain - Placement :
Final Judgment (No Appeal)
Assets Returned (USD):
$0
Disposition of Criminal Case(s):
According to an April 2011 report by Human Rights Watch, criminal proceedings had been instituted in Haiti against Mr. Duvalier on charges of financial crimes, after he left Haiti in 1986. These pending proceedings were reinstituted when Mr. Duvalier returned to Haiti in January 2011. Under Haitian law and procedural rules, the government has until May 19, 2011, to complete its investigation and charge Mr. Duvalier. (Source: Haiti's Rendezvous with History, "The proceedings against Duvalier," Human Rights Watch, April 14, 2011.)
Summary:
After instituting proceedings in France, Haiti issued English proceedings against the Duvaliers, and was granted orders restraining the Duvaliers from disposing of assets wherever situated and requiring them to disclose information relating to assets. The family's appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in 1990. The Duvaliers were not in England and there was no evidence that they had assets here. However, they had used English solicitors in connection with dealings with the assets and all of the documentary evidence in relation to such dealings was therefore located in England which was adjudged a sufficient connection with England. (Source: New Law Journal, "Disarming litigation terrorists John Fordham explains how devastating freezing injunctions can be," May 9, 2008 [Discussion of Republic of Haiti v Duvalier [1990] 1 QB 202, [1989] 1 All ER 456] accessed at http://www.venezlon.co.uk/old/pdf/disarming_litigation.pdf; Republic of Haiti v Duvalier [1990] 1 QB 202, [1989] 1 All ER 456.)
Contributing Factors in Asset Recovery:
A United Kingdom court granted a worldwide Mareva freezing order even though, as it noted, the Duvaliers were not in England and there was no evidence that they had assets in the UK. However, the Court pointed out that the Duvaliers had used English solicitors in connection with dealings with the assets and all of the documentary evidence in relation to such dealings was therefore located in England which was adjudged a sufficient connection with England. (Source: New Law Journal, "Disarming litigation
terrorists John Fordham explains how devastating freezing injunctions can be," May 9, 2008 [Discussion of Republic of Haiti v Duvalier [1990] 1 QB 202, [1989] 1 All ER 456], accessed at http://www.venezlon.co.uk/old/pdf/disarming_litigation.pdf; Republic of Haiti v Duvalier [1990] 1 QB 202, [1989] 1 All ER 456.)
Agreement / Arrangement re: Returned Assets?:
No
Agreement / Arrangment re: Returned Assets (Explanation):
NA
Intl Cooperation Mechanism: MLAT/Letter of Request:
No
Basis for Intl Cooperation Mechanism:
NA
Investigating Agency (JO):
Unspecified
ProsecAuth/Civil Atty (JO):
Unspecified
Courts Involved (JO):
Unspecified
Investigative Agency (JAR):
Unspecified
ProsecAuth/Civil Atty (JAR):
Watson, Farley & Williams; Slaughter & May
Courts Involved (JAR):
Queens Bench
Sources :
Republic of Haiti and others v Duvalier and others, [1990] 1 QB 202 (Obtained from the U.S. Library of Congress);
See also New Law Journal, "Disarming litigation terrorists John Fordham explains how devastating freezing injunctions can be,"May 9, 2008 (Discussion of Republic of Haiti v Duvalier [1990] 1 QB 202, [1989] 1 All ER 456);
Haiti's Rendezvous with History, "The proceedings against Duvalier," Human Rights Watch, April 14, 2011, accessed at http://www.hrw.org/en/node/97889/section/4.
