This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Royal assent for Proceeds of Crime Act
25/07/2002
The Proceeds of Crime Act received Royal Assent today,
providing new powers for both the police and the courts to
seize and confiscate the profits made by criminals from
drug dealing and other criminal activities.
In recent years confiscation orders imposed by Scottish
courts have amounted to less than £1 million each year.
The aim of the Act is to significantly increase that
amount. The Executive has identified drug related projects
as a priority for re-investing this money.
Justice Minister Jim Wallace said:
"This is a major step forward in the battle against drug
dealers and other crime barons. Too often in the past they
have been able to hold on to, and enjoy, the money they
have made through crime.
"The Act now considerably strengthens the powers of
confiscation following conviction. It introduces a new
power of civil recovery for the courts to seize the
proceeds of crime even where conviction is not possible,
and enables suspected criminal assets to be taxed. It also
gives the police and customs officers tough new
investigation powers include the power to search for and
seize suspected cash and other assets.
"Civil recovery is a major new weapon in our armoury. At
present too many criminals have been able to organise the
criminal activity of others and profit from the results -
but remain remote enough from the crime committed to make
prosecution difficult or impossible. We will now be able to
go after the assets of such people who too often enjoy a
lavish lifestyle on the back of the misery of others.
"We have already embarked on a major implementation
programme which includes strengthening the Criminal
Confiscation Unit in the Crown Office, setting up a new
Civil Recovery Unit and ensuring that the police are fully
trained and resourced to pursue criminal assets across the
country.
"This Act is not only aimed at the "Mr Bigs" of the
criminal world. A major target will be drug dealers and
other criminals in our local communities who bring such
misery to many in these communities. By confiscating their
assets we will be hitting them hard where it hurts most -
in their pockets."
The Proceeds of Crime Act will:
- enhance the powers of criminal confiscation
following conviction by aligning the existing separate
schemes for drug trafficking and for other crimes onto
an all crimes basis and by strengthening the
investigatory and enforcement powers
- introduce new powers of civil recovery to claim for
the state the proceeds of criminal activity in cases
where it is not possible to prosecute or secure a
criminal conviction
- strengthen existing money laundering powers by
removing the current distinction between terrorism,
drugs and other crimes and imposing tougher disclosure
requirements on third parties such as financial
institutions
- introduce new arrangements to enable tax to be
levied on income suspected to be derived from criminal
activity
Under the Act, responsibility for criminal confiscation
in Scotland remains with the Lord Advocate, while the
Scottish Ministers will pursue civil recovery where it is
not possible to prosecute or secure a criminal
conviction.
The courts will be able to restrain a suspect's assets
at the start of a criminal investigation. At present
restraint is only available when the suspect is about to be
charged, by which time the assets have often disappeared.
Where the court finds that a convicted person has a
criminal lifestyle, it would assume that
all his assets are derived from crime and confiscate
them.