Criminal Justice Act, 1999

PART IV

Amendments Relating to Confiscation Orders

Amendment of section 4 of Act of 1994.

25.—Section 4 of the Act of 1994 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsections for subsections (1) to (3):

“(1) Where a person has been sentenced or otherwise dealt with by a court in respect of one or more drug trafficking offences of which he has been convicted on indictment, the court shall, subject to subsections (2) and (3), determine whether the person has benefited from drug trafficking.

(2) A court may decide not to make a determination under subsection (1) of this section where, following such preliminary inquiries, if any, as it may make, it is satisfied that having regard to—

(a) the present means of the convicted person, and

(b) all of the other circumstances of the case, including the matters which are to be taken into account under section 12(3) of this Act,

the amount, if any, which might be recovered under any confiscation order which might be made would not be sufficient to justify proceeding with consideration of the making of such an order.

(3) The duty of a court to make a determination under subsection (1) of this section shall not apply if the convicted person has died or absconded, and accordingly the provisions of section 13 of this Act shall apply in such a case.”.