Proceeds of Crime (Scotland) Act 1995

24 Forfeiture of property subject to suspended forfeiture order

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, property in respect of which a suspended forfeiture order has been made shall be forfeited to and vest in the Crown, or such other person as the court may direct, as follows—

(a) heritable property situated in Scotland shall be forfeited at the end of the period of 6 months commencing with the date on which a certified copy of the suspended forfeiture order is recorded in the General Register of Sasines or, as the case may be, registered in the Land Register of Scotland;

(b) heritable property situated outside Scotland shall be forfeited at the end of the period of six months commencing with the date of the making of the suspended forfeiture order;

(c) moveable property shall be forfeited at the end of the period of 60 days commencing with the date of the making of the suspended forfeiture order.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1)(c) above, moveable property which is certified by the prosecutor as being—

(a) of a perishable or dangerous nature;

(b) of no commercial value; or

(c) property which cannot lawfully be sold, supplied or possessed,

shall be forfeited immediately after the making of the suspended forfeiture order.

(3) If an application for recall or variation of the suspended forfeiture order concerned has been made under section 25 of this Act, there shall be no forfeiture of property mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (1) above unless and until whichever is the later of the following occurs—

(a) the application is finally disposed of in favour of the prosecutor; or

(b) the period mentioned in that paragraph has expired.

(4) Without prejudice to subsection (2) above, in the event of an appeal against conviction or sentence, there shall be no forfeiture of property until whichever is the later of the following occurs—

(a) the appeal, if it is proceeded with, is determined in favour of the prosecutor; or

(b) the period mentioned in paragraph (a) or, as the case may be, (b) or (c) of subsection (1) above has expired.

(5) Property which has been forfeited to the Crown under this section shall be dealt with by the Crown in such manner as seems to it to be appropriate.

(6) A certificate by the clerk of court that property was forfeited to and vested in the Crown, or another person, under this section on the date specified in the certificate shall be conclusive evidence of that fact; and, in the case of a certificate in respect of heritable property situated in Scotland, the prosecutor shall, forthwith, cause a certified copy of the certificate to be recorded in the General Register of Sasines or, as the case may be, registered in the Land Register of Scotland.