Non-conviction-based forfeiture
Non-conviction-based forfeiture, in relation to part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA), highlights the civil procedures covering property or cash obtained from unlawful conduct before a magistrates’ court, sheriff or justice of the peace. Civil forfeiture combats organised crime and relies on the legal fiction that the property, and not the owner, has disobeyed the law. As a result, conviction or even criminal charge is not placed against the owner. The powers conferred by this Act are exercisable regardless the conduct of any proceedings related to an offence in connection with the said property. Under civil recovery, properties are considered as recoverable property that is obtained through unlawful …show more content…
The Criminal Finances Act 2017 (CFA) expands the application of these powers to the Financial Conduct Authority and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which allows proceedings in the High Court to recover criminal property, without the necessary conviction of the owner of a criminal offence. Non-conviction based forfeiture is not only limited to the domestic jurisdiction of the State but is extended to foreign jurisdictions since international boundaries should no longer be the ally of corrupt politicians. Non-conviction based forfeiture, developed through the existence of Criminal Finances Act 2017, is an influential device in ensuring better recovery of proceeds of crime, predominantly in cases where the proceeds have been moved abroad. As the Act offers a strong provision related to restraint, forfeiture and seizure of tainted assets without the necessity for a criminal conviction, it expands the power of the Government to encompass an effective system in recovering stolen assets when the respondent is dead, in fugitive status, immune from prosecution, has fled the jurisdiction, or is too powerful to prosecute- which presages that non-conviction based forfeiture should be obtainable when criminal …show more content…
The development of Criminal Finances Act 2017 divests the politically corrupt persons of the fruits of their criminal acts and restore the funds embezzled to the citizens of the United Kingdom and reduces the degradation and distrust of public institutions specifically those involved in financial sector governance and public financial management that are vulnerable in corruption of public officials. Criminal Finances Act 2017 also strengthens the ability of United Kingdom to successfully conduct investigations and prosecutions, and to forfeit, trace, freeze and return the proceeds of crime through corrupt practices and hidden in foreign jurisdictions. An example of the application of the Act is the development of jurisdiction of France to United Kingdom when a human trafficker was convicted in a French Court and was sentenced to imprisonment and confiscation of assets. It was argued that the French authorities did not have jurisdiction to reach the human trafficker’s United Kingdom assets to satisfy the fine leaving him with access to important assets purchased with the gains of illegal acts upon his release. It was decided that the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) of United Kingdom successfully obtained a property freezing order and forfeited £750,000 after establishing that the large amount of cash deposits in the bank accounts situated in United