Confiscation Orders

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 unified the old system (Drug Trafficking Act and Criminal Justice Act) and makes provision for confiscation orders in every criminal case. It is therefore essential that at all stages of a criminal case due consideration is given to the potential confiscation order which may be made at the conclusion of proceedings.

The Home Office estimate that the number of confiscation orders obtained annually in England and Wales will increase from approximately 1,400 to in excess of 50,000, and the significance and impact of the legislation cannot be underestimated. In the period April 2007 - February 2008 the courts in England and Wales made 4504 such orders in sums totaling £225.87 million. The Home Office Aim is to recover in excess of £250 million this year. In recent years the number of orders and the sums confiscated has steadily risen. As a result the issue of how much a defendant might have to pay by way of confiscation is increasingly becoming a central part of the case and therefore the defence must be alive to this issue from the first interview at a police station right up to the conclusion of case. We are able to deal with all aspects of the confiscatory regime and we have been involved in many of the landmark decisions in this area.