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Forfeiture.
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14.—(1) Where a person has been convicted of an offence under this Act, any chemical weapon or other thing seized by means of or in respect of which the offence was committed is forfeited to the State and shall be disposed of as the Minister may direct.
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(2) Where any chemical weapon or other thing has been seized under this Act and the owner of the chemical weapon or other thing, or the person in whose possession it was at the time of seizure, consents in writing to its forfeiture, it is forfeited to the State and shall be disposed of as the Minister may direct.
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(3) An authorised officer may apply for an order (“forfeiture order”) for the forfeiture of any chemical weapon or other thing to the State, whether or not a person has been convicted of or charged with an offence under this Act in relation to it and whether or not the owner or person who has the right to its possession is within the jurisdiction of the State or, after reasonable inquiry, can be found, on the grounds that the possession of the chemical weapon or other thing in the circumstances in which it was found is prohibited under this Act or the Convention.
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(4) An application under subsection (3) shall be made to a judge of the District Court in whose district court district the chemical weapon or other thing is located.
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(5) Any person aggrieved by a forfeiture order or by a decision of the District Court not to make such an order, may appeal to the Circuit Court in whose circuit district a forfeiture order has been made or refused, against that order or decision by the District Court.
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(6) Where the District Court makes a forfeiture order, the order so made may contain such provisions as appear to the court to be appropriate for delaying the coming into force of the order (including provisions relating to the custody and safe storage of the chemical weapon or other thing) pending the making and determination of any appeal.
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(7) Where a chemical weapon or other thing is forfeited under a forfeiture order under subsection (3), it shall be destroyed, denatured, adapted for lawful use or otherwise dealt with in accordance with such directions, not in conflict with the Convention, as the Minister may give.
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(8) A thing may be seized and forfeited under this section notwithstanding that it may be affixed to land, and an authorised officer may, with such reasonable force and assistance as is necessary to achieve that purpose, sever the thing from the land.
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