The Act: Table of Contents: Part 10: Forfeiture

Part 10: Enforcement - Forfeiture

Forfeiture on consent

229. (1) Where an enforcement officer has seized a thing under section 220 or subsection 223(1) and the owner or person who was in lawful possession of it at the time of the seizure consents in writing at the request of the enforcement officer to its forfeiture, it is thereupon forfeited to Her Majesty in right of Canada.

Disposal or destruction

(2) The Minister may dispose of or destroy anything forfeited under subsection (1) and, if the Minister so directs, the costs of the disposal or destruction shall be paid by the owner or the person who was in lawful possession of it at the time it was seized.

Forfeiture by order of court

230. (1) Subject to sections 231 and 232, where a person is convicted of an offence under this Act and anything seized under section 220 or subsection 223(1) is then being detained,

(a) the thing is, on the conviction and in addition to any punishment imposed for the offence, forfeited to Her Majesty in right of Canada, if the court so directs, in which case

(i) the Minister may dispose of or destroy the thing, and

(ii) the costs of the forfeiture and disposal or destruction shall be paid by the offender; or

(b) the thing shall, on the expiry of the time for taking an appeal from the conviction or on the final conclusion of the proceedings, as the case may be, be restored to the person from whom it was seized or to any other person entitled to its possession on any conditions that may be imposed by order of the court and that, in the opinion of the court, are necessary to avoid the commission of a further offence under this Act.

Things deemed not to have been seized

(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), anything released from detention under paragraph 223(4)(a) or (b) is deemed not to have been seized under section 220 or subsection 223(1).

Court may order forfeiture

231. Where the owner of any ship, aircraft, platform or other structure has been convicted of an offence under section 272, the convicting court may, if the ship, aircraft, platform or structure was seized under section 220 or subsection 223(1), in addition to any other penalty imposed, order that the ship, aircraft, platform or structure, or any security given under subsection 222(1), be forfeited, and on the making of such an order the ship, aircraft, platform, structure or security is forfeited to Her Majesty in right of Canada.

Disposal of forfeited ship, aircraft, etc.

232. (1) Where proceedings referred to in subsection 222(2) are instituted within the time provided in that subsection and, at the final conclusion of those proceedings, any ship, aircraft, platform or other structure or any security given under subsection 222(1) is ordered to be forfeited, it may be disposed of as the Governor in Council directs.

Return of seized ship, etc., where no forfeiture ordered

(2) Where anything has been seized under section 220 and proceedings referred to in subsection 222(2) are instituted, but the thing is not, at the final conclusion of the proceedings, ordered to be forfeited, it shall be returned, the proceeds of any sale of the cargo under subsection 221(3) shall be paid or any security given to the Minister under subsection 222(1) shall be returned to the person from whom the thing was seized.

Exception

(3) Where, at the conclusion of proceedings referred to in subsection (1), the person from whom the thing was seized is convicted of an offence arising out of a contravention of this Part, the thing and any cargo or the proceeds or security may be retained until the fine is paid or the thing and any cargo may be sold under execution in satisfaction of the fine, or the proceeds realized from the sale of the cargo or the security or any part thereof may be applied in payment of the fine.

Application by person claiming interest

233. (1) Where anything has been ordered to be forfeited under this Act, any person, other than a person who was a party to the proceedings that resulted in the order, who claims an interest in the thing as owner, mortgagee, lien holder or holder of any other claim under Canadian law may, within 30 days after the thing is ordered to be forfeited, apply by notice in writing to the Federal Court for an order under subsection (5).

Date of hearing

(2) The Federal Court shall fix a day for the hearing of an application made under subsection (1).

Notice

(3) An applicant for an order under subsection (5) shall, at least 30 days before the day fixed under subsection (2) for the hearing of the application, serve a notice of the application and of the hearing on the Minister and on all other persons claiming an interest in the thing that is the subject-matter of the application as owner, mortgagee, lien holder or holder of any other claim under Canadian law of whom the applicant has knowledge.

Notice of intervention

(4) Each person, other than the Minister, who is served with a notice under subsection (3) and who intends to appear at the hearing of the application to which the notice relates shall, at least 10 days before the day fixed for the hearing, file a notice of intervention in the Registry of the Federal Court and serve a copy of the notice on the Minister and on the applicant.

Order declaring nature and extent of interests

(5) Where, on the hearing of an application under this section, the Federal Court is satisfied that the applicant, or the intervenors, if any, or any of them,

(a) is innocent of any complicity in any conduct that caused the thing to be subject to forfeiture and of any collusion in relation to any such conduct, and

(b) exercised all reasonable care in respect of the persons permitted to obtain possession and use of the thing so as to be satisfied that it was not likely to be used contrary to the provisions of this Act or, in the case of a mortgagee or lien holder, other than the holder of a maritime lien or statutory right in rem, that the applicant or intervenor exercised such care with respect to the mortgagor or the lien giver,

those of the applicant and the intervenors in respect of whom the Court is so satisfied are entitled to an order declaring that their interests are not affected by the forfeiture and declaring the nature and extent of each of their interests and the priorities among them.

Additional order

(6) Where an order is made under subsection (5), the Court may, in addition, order that the thing to which the interests relate be delivered to one or more of the persons found to have an interest in it or that an amount equal to the value of each of the interests so declared be paid to the persons found to have those interests.