Territorial Extent and Application Detained cash investigations Section 66 Transfer of jurisdiction to Crown Court
336.Sections 75 to 77 of, and Schedule 10 to, the Serious Crime Act 2007 enabled the production order and search and seizure warrant provisions in Part 8 of POCA to be used for investigating the provenance or intended destination of cash seized under Chapter 3 of Part 5 of POCA (which provides for the recovery of cash in summary proceedings). The amendments created a new type of investigation, namely a detained cash investigation. This was additional to the other types of investigation under POCA, namely a confiscation investigation, civil recovery investigation and money laundering investigation. Detained cash investigation powers assist in the preparation of a case for forfeiting the cash before the magistrates’ court in England and Wales and Northern Ireland or the Sheriff in Scotland.
337.Applications for a production order and a search and seizure warrant for a detained cash investigation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are made to a judge of the High Court (section 343 of POCA, as amended by paragraph 3 of Schedule 10 to the Serious Crime Act).
338.Section 66 transfers the jurisdiction for applications relating to detained cash investigations from a judge of the High Court to a judge entitled to exercise the jurisdiction of the Crown Court in England and Wales, which includes Circuit judges, Recorders and High Court judges in their Crown Court capacity. In Northern Ireland a Crown Court judge will hear such applications. The jurisdiction will remain with the sheriff in Scotland.