Section 61 Payment of compensation
319.Section 72 of POCA provides for compensation to be paid to a person whose property has been affected by the enforcement of confiscation legislation. Compensation is only payable where an investigation is started but proceedings are never brought, or the defendant is not convicted of an offence, or the conviction is quashed, or the defendant is pardoned. In all cases there must have been a serious default on the part of one or more of the enforcement authorities specified in section 72(9) for compensation to be payable. Section 61 amends sections 72(9) of POCA, and the corresponding provisions for Scotland and Northern Ireland: sections 139(9), and 220(9) of POCA to add SOCA to the list of enforcement authorities that are liable to pay compensation. It also amends section 72(9) and 220(9) to add to the list certain bodies that have accredited financial investigators on their staff.