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Forfeiture of animal, veterinary medicinal product, etc.
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51. (1) Where—
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(a) a veterinary medicinal product,
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(b) an ingredient for a veterinary medicinal product,
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(c) an animal to which a veterinary medicinal product has been administered,
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(d) any thing used in connection with an unauthorised veterinary medicinal product or any thing directly used in connection with any other veterinary medicinal product, or
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(e) any thing used in connection with an animal to which a prohibited veterinary medicinal product has been administered or any thing directly used in connection with an animal to which any other veterinary medicinal product has been administered,
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has come into the possession of an authorised officer in respect of which an offence is with reasonable cause suspected by the officer of having been committed under this Part, or where an offence has been committed or is alleged to have been committed under this Part in respect of any of the matters referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e), and on the application before a court of—
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(i) the Minister, or
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(ii) where criminal proceedings have been instituted, the person who instituted those proceedings,
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the appropriate court may, at its discretion and where it is satisfied that an offence has been committed (whether or not any person has been convicted of the offence) order the forfeiture of any such animal, veterinary medicinal product, ingredient for a veterinary medicinal product, or other thing, as the case may be.
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(2) Any thing ordered by the appropriate court to be forfeited under this section shall be disposed of as the Minister thinks fit, and any moneys arising from such disposal shall, without prejudice to it being taken into account (where appropriate) for the purposes of section 52, be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform directs.
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(3) (a) In this section—
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“appropriate court” means—
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(i) in case the estimated value of the animal, veterinary medicinal product, ingredient for a veterinary medicinal product or other thing to be forfeited does not exceed €15,000, the District Court,
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(ii) in case the estimated value aforesaid does not exceed €75,000, the Circuit Court, and
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(iii) in any case, the High Court;
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“estimated value”, in relation to the thing sought to be forfeited, means the estimated amount of money which, in the opinion of the court, a willing purchaser would pay to a willing seller when such a thing could be sold legally and after deduction for—
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(i) the estimated costs incidental to such a sale, and
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(ii) the estimated amount of any tax or duty owing to the State in respect of that thing,
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and when it cannot be sold legally then such estimated value, if any, as the court considers appropriate.
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(b) If, in relation to an application under this section—
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(i) to the District Court, that court becomes of the opinion during the hearing of the application that—
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(I) the estimated value aforesaid will exceed €15,000, or
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(II) that for any reason it should decline jurisdiction,
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it may, if it so thinks fit, transfer the application to the Circuit Court or the High Court, whichever it considers appropriate having regard to the estimated value aforesaid or to such other matters that it considers appropriate,
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or
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(ii) to the Circuit Court, that court becomes of opinion during the hearing of the application that—
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(I) the estimated value aforesaid will exceed €75,000, or
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(II) that for any reason it should decline jurisdiction,
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it may, if it so thinks fit, by order transfer the application to the High Court.
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(c) An application under this section shall be brought in a summary manner.
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(4) (a) An order shall not be made by a court under this section unless the court is satisfied that in the circumstances all practicable steps have been taken to notify any person of the proceedings relating to the application for the order and who, in the opinion of the court, should be given the opportunity of being heard by it on that application.
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(b) The court concerned may make such order as to the costs of the parties to or heard by the court in proceedings relating to an application for an order under this section as it considers appropriate.
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