Home Office circular 27 / 2005

Revised National Best Practice Guide to Confiscation Order Enforcement

Summary

1. The purpose of the attached guidance is to improve performance and promote consistency of approach in the enforcement of confiscation orders. It also describes the co-operation required from prosecuting authorities to ensure that enforcement by magistrates’ courts is effective, although it does not cover enforcement procedures where a prosecuting authority takes a lead role.

2. The guidance applies to confiscation orders made in the Crown Court in England and Wales only. The guide has been completely revised, taking account of experience gained since the initial publication in September 2003, suggestions from guide users, and incorporates the Joint Asset Recovery Database (JARD) into the general guidance and detailed processes. It also contains a significantly updated supplementary guidance section. See “Current Revision” section (page 5) for details of the significant changes.

3. The guidance has been transformed from a two-part guide dealing with POCA order processes separately to CJA and DTA orders, to a consolidated guide covering all Acts. It covers the enforcement procedures for confiscation orders made under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (as amended), the Drug Trafficking Act 1994, and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Section 1:Pre-enforcement covers the process stages up to the point where the enforcement authority receives the order, together with appeals and variations and Section2: Enforcement covers the stages which are the primary responsibility of the enforcement authority.

4. The guidance is the result of a Home Office sponsored inter-agency study to look at the difficulties experienced by magistrates’ courts in enforcing confiscation orders and to compile guidance on the enforcement process. It has been compiled with the assistance of the main asset recovery agencies involved in confiscation which include: HM Court Service, the Crown Prosecution Service, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs , Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office, the National Crime Squad, the Association of Chief Police Officers and Her Majesty’s Prison Service. A consultation exercise was also held with the major stakeholders involved in asset recovery.

5. The guidance covers the process from the point at which a financial investigator has completed the financial investigation to the point at which payment of an order is made to a magistrates’ court. It is deliberately detailed to provide staff involved in the confiscation process with information on what needs to be done, by whom, when, and how. It aims to set minimum acceptable standards for the effective enforcement of confiscation orders. However, it is not intended to be prescriptive so where local procedures already deliver the standard of performance required, a change to local procedures may not be necessary.

6. The guidance is distributed to all agencies working within the confiscation process from financial investigation and prosecution to the making of a confiscation order by the Crown Court and its enforcement by the magistrates’ courts supported by the prison service where appropriate. Each agency is asked to draw the guidance, which has also been distributed electronically, to the attention of all staff involved in the confiscation process. The guidance can be found on the Home Office website address: www.circulars.homeoffice.gov.uk

7. This circular cancels the guidance issue under Home Office Circular 43/2003.

Background

1. The guide covers the enforcement procedures for confiscation orders made under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (as amended), the Drug Trafficking Act 1994, and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The 2002 Act received Royal Assent on 24 July 2002 and has been fully implemented since 24 March 2003 except for the international co-operation provisions which will be implemented towards the end of 2005.

Attachments

• NBPG to Confiscation Order Enforcement (PDF file - 1mb - Warning: large file)

  NBPG to Confiscation Order Enforcement

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