Confiscation order
R v Haden and others [2024] All ER (D) 95 (Apr), [2024] EWCA Crim 344
The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, allowed the prosecution’s application for leave to appeal against refusals by the Crown Court judges to make confiscation orders against the defendants because of a failure to complete the proceedings within the permitted time provided by s 14 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. There were four unrelated cases before the court which involved the determination as to whether there were exceptional circumstances justifying an extension of the permitted period beyond the two years from conviction. Applying the relevant authorities, the court held that exceptional circumstances existed in all the defendants’ cases within which the confiscation proceedings should be determined. Compliance with the procedural requirements of s 14 of the Act was not a condition precedent to the court retaining jurisdiction to make a confiscation order. Jurisdiction would be retained until the proceedings were determined following s 6 of the 2002 Act. In the first case, the court’s failure to list the case was first caused by the pandemic
