Schedule: Temporary Measures Part 6: Proceeds of Crime
278.Paragraph 24 temporarily modifies the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to make clear that coronavirus-related reasons are valid reasons for allowing the confiscation-order making process to be postponed.
279.A confiscation order is an order under section 92 of the Proceeds of Crime Act requiring a person convicted of an offence to pay a sum of money representing the person’s benefit from crime. The court can either make a confiscation order before it sentences the person, or it can postpone doing so under section 99 of the Proceeds of Crime Act. Section 99 provides that the process for making a confiscation order cannot, ordinarily, be postponed for more than 2 years beginning from the time that the person is convicted. However, if the court is satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances in a case, it can postpone the process for more than 2 years.
280.It is up to the courts to decide what exceptional circumstances are. Paragraph 24 temporarily inserts a new subsection (4A) into section 99 of the Proceeds of Crime Act to make clear that the direct and indirect effects of coronavirus can constitute exceptional circumstances. An example of a direct effect would be where people involved in the order-making process are too stricken with coronavirus for the process to conclude before the 2 years expire. An example of an indirect effect would be the availability of court diets due to pressures on court timetables as a result of the disruption to court business caused by the pandemic and difficulties in obtaining the necessary court documentation required to progress confiscation hearings.