Northern Territory Consolidated Acts

CRIMINAL PROPERTY FORFEITURE ACT - SECT 63

(1) The court that is hearing an objection to the restraint of property on the ground that the property is crime-used may set aside the restraining order if -

(a) the objector establishes that -

(i) the objector is a spouse, de facto partner or dependant of an owner of the property;

(ii) the objector is an innocent party or is less than 18 years old;

(iii) the objector was usually resident on the property at the time the relevant forfeiture offence was committed or is most likely to have been committed;

(iv) the objector was usually resident on the property at the time the objection was filed;

(v) the objector has no other residence at the time of hearing the objection;

(vi) the objector would suffer undue hardship if the property is forfeited; and

(vii) it is not practicable to make adequate provision for the objector by some other means;

(b) the objector establishes that -

(i) the objector is the owner of the property or is one of 2 or more owners of the property;

(ii) the property is not effectively controlled by a person who made criminal use of the property;

(iii) the objector is an innocent party in relation to the property; and

(iv) each other owner (if there are more than one) is an innocent party in relation to the property; or

(c) the objector establishes that it is more likely than not that the property is not crime-used.

(2) If the objector fails to establish for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) that each other owner is an innocent party, the court that is hearing the objection may -

(a) order that, when the property is sold after forfeiture, the objector is to be paid an amount from the proceeds of the sale that is in proportion to the objector's share of the property; or

(b) set aside the restraining order in relation to the property if it also orders the objector to pay to the Territory the value of the share of the property that the court finds is attributable to the owner or owners who are not established to be innocent parties.

(3) In an order under subsection (2), the court must specify -

(a) the proportion that it finds to be the objector's share of the property; and

(b) the proportion that it finds to be the share of any owner who is not established to be an innocent party.

(4) On application by the DPP or an owner of the property, the court that made a restraining order on the ground that the relevant property is crime-used may set the order aside if the court also orders the objector to pay to the Territory the value of the property.

(5) For the purposes of this section, the court that is hearing the objection or application must assess the value of property -

(a) for subsection (2)(b) - at the time of hearing the objection; and

(b) for subsection (4) - at the time of hearing the application,

and must specify the assessed value in the order.