Criminal Assets Bureau Act , 1996

1. Interpretation.

1.—(1)In this Act—

“the Bureau” means the Criminal Assets Bureau established by section 3;

“the bureau legal officer” means the legal officer of the Bureau;

“bureau officer” means a person appointed as a bureau officer under section 8;

“the Chief Bureau Officer” means the chief officer of the Bureau;

“the Commissioner” means the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána;

F1["criminal conduct" means any conduct which—

(a) constitutes an offence or more than one offence, or

(b) where the conduct occurs outside the State, constitutes an offence under the law of the state or territory concerned and would constitute an offence or more than one offence if it occurred within the State;]

“the establishment day” means the day appointed by the Minister under section 2;

“Garda functions” means any power or duty conferred on any member of the Garda Síochána by or under any enactment (including an enactment passed after the passing of this Act) or the common law;

“member of the family”, in relation to an individual who is a bureau officer or a member of the staff of the Bureau, means the spouse, parent, grandparent, step-parent, child (including a step-child or an adopted child), grandchild, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece of the individual or of the individual's spouse, or any person who is cohabiting or residing with the individual;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Justice;

F1["place" includes a dwelling;]

“proceedings” includes any hearing before the Appeal Commissioners (within the meaning of the Revenue Acts) or before an appeals officer or the Social Welfare Tribunal under the Social Welfare Acts or a hearing before any committee of the Houses of the Oireachtas;

“Revenue Acts” means—

(a)the Customs Acts,

(b)the statutes relating to the duties of excise and to the management of those duties,

(c)the Tax Acts,

(d)the Capital Gains Tax Acts,

(e)the F2[Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010],

(f)the Capital Acquisitions Tax Act, 1976,

(g)the statutes relating to stamp duty and to the management of that duty,

(h)Part VI of the Finance Act, 1983,

(i)Chapter IV of Part II of the Finance Act, 1992,

and any instruments made thereunder and any instruments made under any other enactment and relating to tax;

“tax” means any tax, duty, levy or charge under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners.

(2)In this Act—

(a)a reference to a section is a reference to a section of this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended,

(b)a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended, and

(c)a reference to an enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or extended by any other enactment.

2. Establishment day.

2.—The Minister may, after consultation with the Minister for Finance, by order appoint a day to be the establishment day for the purposes of this Act.

3. Establishment of Bureau.

3.—(1)On the establishment day there shall stand established a body to be known as the Criminal Assets Bureau, and in this Act referred to as “the Bureau”, to perform the functions conferred on it by or under this Act.

(2)The Bureau shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and an official seal and power to sue and be sued in its corporate name and to acquire, hold and dispose of land or an interest in land and to acquire, hold and dispose of any other property.

4. Objectives of Bureau.

4.—Subject to the provisions of this Act, the objectives of the Bureau shall be—

(a)the identification of the assets, wherever situated, of persons which derive or are suspected to derive, directly or indirectly, from F3[criminal conduct],

(b)the taking of appropriate action under the law to deprive or to deny those persons of the assets or the benefit of such assets, in whole or in part, as may be appropriate, and

(c)the pursuit of any investigation or the doing of any other preparatory work in relation to any proceedings arising from the objectives mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b).

5. Functions of Bureau.

5.—(1)Without prejudice to the generality of section 4, the functions of the Bureau, operating through its bureau officers, shall be the taking of all necessary actions—

(a)in accordance with Garda functions, for the purposes of, the confiscation, restraint of use, freezing, preservation or seizure of assets identified as deriving, or suspected to derive, directly or indirectly, from F4[criminal conduct],

(b)under the Revenue Acts or any provision of any other enactment, whether passed before or after the passing of this Act, which relates to revenue, to ensure that the proceeds of F4[criminal conduct] or suspected F4[criminal conduct] are subjected to tax and that the Revenue Acts, where appropriate, are fully applied in relation to such proceeds or activities, as the case may be,

(c)under the Social Welfare Acts for the investigation and determination, as appropriate, of any claim for or in respect of benefit (within the meaning of section 204 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993) by any person engaged in F4[criminal conduct], and

(d)at the request of the Minister for Social Welfare, to investigate and determine, as appropriate, any claim for or in respect of a benefit, within the meaning of section 204 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993, where the Minister for Social Welfare certifies that there are reasonable grounds for believing that, in the case of a particular investigation, officers of the Minister for Social Welfare may be subject to threats or other forms of intimidation,

and such actions include, where appropriate, subject to any international agreement, cooperation with any police force, or any authority, being F5[an authority with functions related to the recovery of proceeds of crime,] a tax authority or social security authority, of a territory or state other than the State.

(2)In relation to the matters referred to in subsection (1), nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting or restricting in any way—

(a)the powers or duties of the Garda Síochána, the Revenue Commissioners or the Minister for Social Welfare, or

(b)the functions of the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Chief State Solicitor.

6. Conferral of additional functions on Bureau.

6.—(1)The Minister may, if the Minister so thinks fit, and after consultation with the Minister for Finance, by order—

(a)confer on the Bureau or its bureau officers such additional functions connected with the objectives and functions for the time being of the Bureau, and

(b)make such provision as the Minister considers necessary or expedient in relation to matters ancillary to or arising out of the conferral on the Bureau or its bureau officers of functions under this section or the performance by the Bureau or its bureau officers of functions so conferred.

(2)The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order under this section (including an order under this subsection).

(3)Every order made by the Minister under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

(4)In this section “functions” includes powers and duties.

7. Chief Bureau Officer.

7.—(1)There shall be a chief officer of the Bureau who shall be known, and is referred to in this Act, as the Chief Bureau Officer.

(2)The Commissioner shall, from time to time, appoint to the Bureau the Chief Bureau Officer and may, at any time, remove the Chief Bureau Officer from his or her appointment with the Bureau.

(3)The Chief Bureau Officer shall carry on and manage and control generally the administration and business of the Bureau.

(4)The Chief Bureau Officer shall be responsible to the Commissioner for the performance of the functions of the Bureau.

(5)(a)In the event of incapacity through illness, or absence otherwise, of the Chief Bureau Officer, the Commissioner may appoint to the Bureau a person, who shall be known, and is referred to in this section, as the Acting Chief Bureau Officer, to perform the functions of the Chief Bureau Officer.

(b)The Commissioner may, at any time, remove the Acting Chief Bureau Officer from his or her appointment with the Bureau and shall, in any event, remove the Acting Chief Bureau Officer from that appointment upon being satisfied that the incapacity or absence of the Chief Bureau Officer has ceased and that the Chief Bureau Officer has resumed the performance of the functions of Chief Bureau Officer.

(c)Subsections (3) and (4) and paragraph (a) shall apply to the Acting Chief Bureau Officer as they apply to the Chief Bureau Officer.

(6)The Chief Bureau Officer shall be appointed from amongst the members of the Garda Síochána of the rank of Chief Superintendent.

(7)For the purposes of this Act other than subsections (1), (3) and (9) of section 8, the Chief Bureau Officer or Acting Chief Bureau Officer, as the case may be, shall be a bureau officer.

8. Bureau officers.

8.—(1)(a)The Minister may appoint, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, such and so many—

(i)members of the Garda Síochána nominated for the purposes of this Act by the Commissioner,

(ii)officers of the Revenue Commissioners nominated for the purposes of this Act by the Revenue Commissioners, and

(iii)officers of the Minister for Social Welfare nominated for the purposes of this Act by that Minister,

to be bureau officers for the purposes of this Act.

(b)An appointment under this subsection shall be confirmed in writing, at the time of the appointment or as soon as may be thereafter, specifying the date of the appointment.

(2)The powers and duties vested in a bureau officer for the purposes of this Act, shall, F6[subject tosubsections (5), (6), (6A), (6B), (6C)and(7)], be the powers and duties vested in the bureau officer, as the case may be, by virtue of—

(a)being a member of the Garda Síochána,

(b)the Revenue Acts or, any provision of any other enactment, whether passed before or after the passing of this Act, which relates to revenue, including any authorisation or nomination made thereunder, or

(c)the Social Welfare Acts, including any appointment made thereunder,

and such exercise or performance of any power or duty for the purposes of this Act shall be exercised or performed in the name of the Bureau.

(3)A bureau officer, when exercising or performing any powers or duties for the purposes of this Act, shall be under the direction and control of the Chief Bureau Officer.

(4)Where in any case a bureau officer (other than the Chief Bureau Officer) who, prior to being appointed a bureau officer, was required to exercise or perform any power or duty on the direction of any other person, it shall be lawful for the bureau officer to exercise or perform such power or duty for the purposes of this Act on the direction of the Chief Bureau Officer.

(5)A bureau officer may exercise or perform his or her powers or duties on foot of any information received by him or her from another bureau officer or on foot of any action taken by that other bureau officer in the exercise or performance of that other bureau officer's powers or duties for the purposes of this Act, and any information, documents or other material obtained by bureau officers under this subsection shall be admitted in evidence in any subsequent proceedings.

(6)(a)A bureau officer may be accompanied or assisted in the exercise or performance of that bureau officer's powers or duties by such other persons (including bureau officers) as the first-mentioned bureau officer considers necessary.

(b)A bureau officer may take with him or her, to assist him or her in the exercise or performance of his or her powers or duties, any equipment or materials as that bureau officer considers necessary.

(c)A bureau officer who assists another bureau officer under paragraph (a) shall have and be conferred with the powers and duties of the first-mentioned bureau officer for the purposes of that assistance only.

(d)Information, documents or other material obtained by any bureau officer under paragraph (a) or (c) may be admitted in evidence in any subsequent proceedings.

F7[(6A) Without prejudice to the generality ofsubsection (6), a bureau officer who is an officer of the Revenue Commissioners or an officer of the Minister for Social and Family Affairs may, if and for so long as he or she is accompanied by a bureau officer who is a member of the Garda Síochána, attend at, and participate in, the questioning of a person detained pursuant to—

(a)section 4of theCriminal Justice Act 1984, or

(b)section 2of theCriminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996(including that section as applied by section 4 of that Act),

in connection with the investigation of an offence but only if the second-mentioned bureau officer requests the first-mentioned bureau officer to do so and the second-mentioned bureau officer is satisfied that the attendance at, and participation in, such questioning of the first-mentioned bureau officer is necessary for the proper investigation of the offence concerned.

(6B) A bureau officer who attends at, and participates in, the questioning of a person in accordance withsubsection (6A)may not commit any act or make any omission which, if committed or made by a member of the Garda Síochána, would be a contravention of any regulation made undersection 7of theCriminal Justice Act 1984.

(6C) An act committed or omission made by a bureau officer who attends at, and participates in, the questioning of a person in accordance withsubsection (6A)which, if committed or made by a member of the Garda Síochána, would be a contravention of any regulation made under the said section 7 shall not of itself render the bureau officer liable to any criminal or civil proceedings or of itself affect the lawfulness of the custody of the detained person or the admissibility in evidence of any statement made by him or her.]

(7)F8[Subject tosection 5(1), any information] or material obtained by a bureau officer for the purposes of this Act may only be disclosed by the bureau officer to—

(a)another bureau officer or a member of the staff of the Bureau,

(b)any member of the Garda Síochána for the purposes of Garda functions,

(c)any officer of the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of the Revenue Acts or any provision of any other enactment, whether passed before or after the passing of this Act, which relates to revenue,

(d)any officer of the Minister for Social Welfare for the purposes of the Social Welfare Acts, or

(e)with the consent of the Chief Bureau Officer, any other officer of another Minister of the Government or of a local authority (within the meaning of the Local Government Act, 1941) for the purposes of that other officer exercising or performing his or her powers or duties,

and information, documents or other material obtained by a bureau officer or any other person under the provisions of this subsection shall be admitted in evidence in any subsequent proceedings.

(8)A member of the Garda Síochána, an officer of the Revenue Commissioners or an officer of the Minister for Social Welfare, who is a bureau officer, notwithstanding his or her appointment as such, shall continue to be vested with and may exercise or perform the powers or duties of a member of the Garda Síochána, an officer of the Revenue Commissioners or an officer of the Minister for Social Welfare, as the case may be, for purposes other than the purposes of this Act, as well as for the purposes of this Act.

(9)The Chief Bureau Officer may, at his or her absolute discretion, at any time, with the consent of the Commissioner, remove any bureau officer from the Bureau whereupon his or her appointment as a bureau officer shall cease.

(10)Nothing in this section shall affect the powers and duties of a member of the Garda Síochána, an officer of the Revenue Commissioners or an officer of the Minister for Social Welfare, who is not a bureau officer.

9. Staff of Bureau.

9.—(1)(a)The Minister may, with the consent of the Attorney General and of the Minister for Finance, appoint a person to be the bureau legal officer, who shall be a member of the staff of the Bureau and who shall report directly to the Chief Bureau Officer, to assist the Bureau in the pursuit of its objectives and functions.

(b)The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance and after such consultation as may be appropriate with the Commissioner, appoint such, and such number of persons to be professional or technical members of the staff of the Bureau, other than the bureau legal officer, and any such member will assist the bureau officers in the exercise and performance of their powers and duties.

(2)A professional or technical member of the staff of the Bureau, including the bureau legal officer, shall perform his or her functions at the direction of the Chief Bureau Officer.

(3)The Minister may, with the consent of the Attorney General and of the Minister for Finance, at any time remove the bureau legal officer from being a member of the staff of the Bureau whereupon his or her appointment as bureau legal officer shall cease.

(4)The Commissioner may, with the consent of the Minister, at any time remove any professional or technical member of the staff of the Bureau, other than the bureau legal officer, from being a member of the staff of the Bureau whereupon his or her appointment as a member of the staff shall cease.

(5)(a)A professional or technical member of the staff of the Bureau, including the bureau legal officer, shall hold his or her office or employment on such terms and conditions (including terms and conditions relating to remuneration and superannuation) as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and in the case of the bureau legal officer with the consent also of the Attorney General, determine.

(b)A professional or technical member of the staff of the Bureau, including the bureau legal officer, shall be paid, out of the moneys at the disposal of the Bureau, such remuneration and allowances for expenses incurred by him or her as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, determine.

10. Anonymity.