Andrew Smith comments on criminal asset confiscation laws in the FT

The law that enables criminals to be stripped of their ill-gotten gains could be reformed following criticism that current rules were difficult to enforce and often led to cases becoming tied-up in litigation.

The Law Commission has pinpointed the confiscation regime for proceeds of crime for potential review after parliament’s Home Affairs Committee reported in July that there was £1.61bn outstanding from confiscation orders as of September 2015, although a third of that figure relates to penalties and interest for non-payment.

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Andrew Smith, partner at Corker Binning, said the issue was as much a practical problem as a legal problem as a convicted criminal may not disclose all their assets: “Often they are tied up in obscure places and they are not disclosed,” he said.

Read the full article in the FT here.