VICIn ForceAct
Confiscation Act 1997
40CUnexplained wealth restraining orders
Start here
Get a plain-English read of 40C
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Confiscation Act 1997.
40C Unexplained wealth restraining orders
(1) An unexplained wealth restraining order is an order that no property or interest in property, that is property or an interest to which the order applies, is to be disposed of, or otherwise dealt with by any person except in the manner and circumstances (if any) specified in the order.
(2) If a provision of this Act confers a power to apply for an unexplained wealth restraining order in respect of property in which a person has an interest, the application may be made in respect of one or more of the following—
(c) specified property of the person and all other property of the person, including property acquired after the making of the order;
(d) all the property of the person, including property acquired after the making of the order, other than specified property;
S. 40C(3) substituted by No. 20/2015 s. 3.
(3) If the court, when making an unexplained wealth restraining order, considers that the circumstances so require, the order may direct one of the following to take control of some or all of the property specified in the order—
S. 40C(3)(b) amended by No. 26/2024 s. 12(1)(a).
S. 40C(3)(c) inserted by No. 26/2024 s. 12(1)(b).
(c) any other person specified by the court in the order.
S. 40C(3A) inserted by No. 26/2024 s. 12(2).
(3A) A court, when making an unexplained wealth restraining order, has power to give any other directions that are necessary to give effect to the unexplained wealth restraining order.
(4) An unexplained wealth restraining order may, at the time it is made or at a later time, provide for meeting—
(b) the reasonable business expenses—
of any person to whose property the order applies if the court that makes or made the order is satisfied that these expenses cannot be met from unrestrained property or income of the person.
S. 40C(5) amended by No. 26/2024 s. 12(3).
(5) Subject to subsection (5A), the court, in making an unexplained wealth restraining order, must not provide for the payment of legal expenses in respect of any legal proceeding, whether criminal or civil.
S. 40C(5A) inserted by No. 26/2024 s. 12(4).
(5A) The court may provide for the payment of legal expenses incurred by a mortgagee of property specified in the unexplained wealth restraining order in a civil proceeding relating to the exercise of the mortgagee's power of sale over the restrained property, provided those expenses—
(6) Subject to subsections (4) and (5), an unexplained wealth restraining order may be made subject to any conditions that the court making the order thinks fit.
(7) The court may refuse to make an unexplained wealth restraining order if the DPP or another person or body on behalf of the State refuses or fails to give to the court any undertakings that the court considers appropriate concerning the payment of damages or costs in relation to the making and operation of the order.
S. 40D inserted by No. 79/2014 s. 16.