Clause 29 - Defendant neither convicted nor acquitted
Proceeds of Crime Bill
6:45 pm
Mr Bob Ainsworth (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Coventry North East, Labour)
As I have said, there could be such circumstances. I am asking the Committee to consider whether we should review that ability. Part 5 is intended for use only when, for various reasons, a person cannot be pursued through the criminal courts. Part 2 is meant to be the appropriate and main method of confiscation. When anyone is pursued under criminal procedures, the defendant has probably been charged and we have restrained the goods, although that is not done on every occasion, after which time he absconds. Do we want to remove that ability from the legislation and render it not possible to confiscate the proceeds in such circumstances?