The Act Commentary on Sections Part 7 - Criminal Memoirs etc Section 155: Exploitation proceeds orders
706.Subsection (1) provides the High Court (or the Court of Session in Scotland) with the power to make an exploitation proceeds order. This is an order made in relation to a qualifying offender who has obtained exploitation proceeds from a relevant offence. The effect of an order is to require the offender (called the “respondent”) to pay a sum of money to the enforcement authority in respect of those proceeds.
707.Subsection (3) explains that a person obtains exploitation proceeds from a relevant offence if he or she derives a benefit from the exploitation of any material relating to the offence or any steps taken with a view to such exploitation. So, for example, a person who receives payment for writing a book, or giving a television interview, about their crime will have obtained exploitation proceeds. A person will also have derived a benefit if he or she receives a payment but the book is not published or the interview does not go ahead.
708.Subsection (4) explains that an order must specify a recoverable amount and identify the benefits derived by respondent to which the order relates. Subsection (6) provides that if the respondent does not pay the recoverable amount by the required time he or she must pay interest at the appropriate rate for the period that the amount is unpaid. The appropriate interest rate is defined in subsection (8) as that specified in section 17 of the Judgments Act 1838 or, in the case of an order made in Scotland, the rate payable under a decree of the Court of Session.