36LProcedure on application for civil forfeiture restraining order

36L Procedure on application for civil forfeiture restraining order

(1) On an application under section 36K, if the Supreme Court or the County Court, as the case requires, having regard to the matters referred to in subsection (2), is satisfied that the circumstances of the case justify the giving of notice to a person affected, the court may direct an applicant for a civil forfeiture restraining order to give notice of the application for that order to any person whom the court has reason to believe has an interest in the property that is the subject of the application.

(2) In determining whether the circumstances of the case justify the giving of notice, the court must have regard to—

(a) the aim of preserving the property that is the subject of the application so as to ensure its availability for the purpose of civil forfeiture; and

(b) any jeopardy to an investigation by a law enforcement agency into criminal activity that could result from the giving of notice; and

(c) any risk to the safety or security of a person, including a potential witness in any criminal proceeding, that could result from the giving of notice; and

(d) the provision made by this Act to enable a person claiming an interest in property the subject of a civil forfeiture restraining order to apply for a section 36V exclusion order to protect that interest from the operation of the civil forfeiture restraining order; and

(e) the limited duration of a civil forfeiture restraining order; and

(3) In determining whether to direct an applicant to give notice of an application for a civil forfeiture restraining order, the court may have regard to any other matter that the court considers relevant.

(4) If the court does not require notice of an application for a civil forfeiture restraining order to be given under subsection (1), it may hear and determine the application in the absence of any person who has an interest in the property that is the subject of the application.

(5) Any person notified under subsection (1) is entitled to appear and to give evidence at the hearing of the application but the absence of that person does not prevent the court from making a civil forfeiture restraining order.

(6) The court may—

(b) order that only persons or classes of persons specified by it may be present during the whole or any part of the proceeding; or

(c) make an order prohibiting the publication of a report of the whole or any part of the proceeding or of any information derived from the proceeding.

(7) The court must cause a copy of any order made under subsection (6) to be posted on a door of the court house or in another conspicuous place where notices are usually posted at the court house.