44Proceedings under this Act

44 Proceedings under this Act

(1)  Proceedings on an application under this Act are taken to be civil proceedings for all purposes.

(2)  A court of competent jurisdiction dealing with proceedings under this Act may do one or more of the following:

(a) order that the whole or any part of the proceedings is to be heard in closed court;

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

(c) order that the publication of a report of the whole or any part of the proceedings, or of any information derived from the proceedings, is prohibited.

(3)  Except in relation to proceedings for an offence under this Act –

(a) a rule of construction that is applicable only in relation to the criminal law does not apply in the interpretation of this Act; and

(b) the rules of evidence applicable in civil proceedings apply in proceedings under this Act; and

(c) the rules of evidence applicable only in criminal proceedings do not apply in proceedings under this Act; and

(d) a question of fact to be decided by a court of competent jurisdiction in proceedings on an application under this Act is to be decided on the balance of probabilities.

(4)  A decision under this Act about the existence of grounds for doing or suspecting anything may be based on hearsay evidence or hearsay information.

(5)  An order or decision of a court of competent jurisdiction made under this Act in relation to property is not invalid only because the value of the property exceeds the maximum value permitted to be dealt with by the court that made the order or decision.