Clause 72 - Serious default
Proceeds of Crime Bill
4:00 pm
Mr Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield, Conservative)
I still lack clarity about the matter. Perhaps I lack understanding about the different role of a financial investigator used by the prosecutor and a financial investigator used by the director. In reality, perhaps the director employs the financial investigator only at the time of confiscation and not during the restraint proceedings of the criminal investigation. However, the fact that the financial investigator is not a member of a police force should not mean that if he commits a fault during his handling of the restraint proceedings that leads to loss and the defendant is subsequently acquitted, the exonerated defendant would not have the right to recover a sum beyond the mere repayment of the value seized. That is a critical issue. From the explanatory notes, I understood that the clause provided a compensation mechanism for a person in such a situation. If it does not, we need to know.