HL Deb 22 July 1998 vol 592 cc1001-2

(". After subsection (9) of section 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (confiscation orders) there shall be inserted the following subsection—

"(9A) Where an offender is committed by a magistrates' court for sentence under section 38 or 38A of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 or section 56 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967, this section and sections 72 to 74C below shall have effect as if the offender had been convicted of the offence in the proceedings before the Crown Court and not in the proceedings before the magistrates' court."").

Lord Williams of Mostyn

My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 61.

Amendment No. 225 has been grouped with the above amendment. They are technical amendments which are designed to deal with an unintended effect of Section 49 of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 on the courts' powers to confiscate the proceeds of crime. Under the 1988 Act, the magistrates' court, except for a very limited range of offences, has no power to make confiscation orders. The Crown Court has extensive powers to order confiscation when it convicts a defendant, but its powers of confiscation are not presently available where an offender is committed for sentence, which happens quite often. Amendment No. 61, with its brother, is designed to deal with that anomaly.

Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 61.—(Lord Williams of Mostyn.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.