Schedules
Schedule 18Forfeiture of property under section 275 or 276
Notice of intended forfeiture
I12
1
The relevant authority must give notice of the intended forfeiture of the property (“notice of intended forfeiture”) to each of the following persons—
a
every person who appears to the authority to have been the owner of the property, or one of its owners, at the time of the seizure of the property;
b
in the case of property seized from a vessel, the master, owner and charterer (if any) of the vessel at that time;
c
in the case of property seized from premises, every person who appears to the authority to have been an occupier of the premises at that time;
d
in any other case, the person (if any) from whom the property was seized.
2
The notice of intended forfeiture must set out—
a
a description of the property,
b
the grounds of the intended forfeiture, and
c
how a person may give a notice of claim under this Schedule and the period within which such a notice must be given.
3
In a case where—
a
the property was seized following an inspection carried out in exercise of the power conferred by section 264, and
b
the relevant authority, after taking reasonable steps to do so, is unable to identify any person as owning the property,
the reference in sub-paragraph (1) to a requirement to give notice of intended forfeiture to such a person is to be read as a reference to a requirement to take such steps as the authority thinks fit to bring the contents of the notice to the attention of persons likely to be interested in it.
4
Property may be treated or condemned as forfeited under this Schedule only if—
a
the requirements of this paragraph have been complied with in the case of the property, or
b
it was not reasonably practicable for them to be complied with.