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.