26Forfeiture and disposal

26 Forfeiture and disposal

26 Forfeiture and disposal

(1) If a person is convicted of an offence against this Act or the regulations, the court may order—

(a) forfeiture to the Crown of an article, regulated material or substance in relation to which the offence was committed, and

(b) the person pay the Authority the costs incurred by the Authority for disposing of the forfeited matter.

(2) On application made by or on behalf of the Authority in the prescribed way, the Local Court may order—

(a) forfeiture to the Crown of an article, regulated material or substance—

(i) seized by an authorised officer under this Act, or

(ii) abandoned or unlawfully disposed of, and

(b) a person pay the Authority the costs incurred by the Authority for disposing of the forfeited matter if, when the forfeited matter was seized, abandoned or unlawfully disposed of, the person—

(i) owned the forfeited matter, or

(ii) was giving away, possessing, selling, storing or transporting the forfeited matter, or

(iii) was consigning the forfeited matter for transport.

(3) The making of an order under subsection (1)(a) or (2)(a) operates to forfeit the article, regulated material or substance to the Crown.

(4) Forfeited matter must be disposed of in the way directed by the Authority.

(5) The Authority may recover the costs of disposing of forfeited matter as a debt in a court of competent jurisdiction from—

(a) the person required, by an order under this section, to pay the costs, or

(b) if the person required to pay the costs is a corporation—

(i) the corporation, or

(ii) a current director of the corporation, or

(iii) a former director of the corporation, or

(iv) a related body corporate, or

(c) if the court has not made an order under this section for the payment of costs—