Freezing notices, application for and issue of
34 Freezing notices, application for and issue of
The DPP or a police officer may apply to a Justice of the Peace for the issue of a freezing notice.
A Justice of the Peace may issue a freezing notice for any property if there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the property is crime‑used or crime‑derived.
A Justice of the Peace may issue a freezing notice for all or any property that is owned or effectively controlled by a person, or that the person has at any time given away if —
the person has been charged with an offence, or the applicant for the notice advises the Justice of the Peace that the person is likely to be charged with an offence within 21 days after the day on which the freezing notice is issued; and
the person could be declared to be a drug trafficker under section 32A(1) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1981 if he or she is convicted of the offence.
A freezing notice may be issued under subsection (3) for all or any property that is owned or effectively controlled by the person, whether or not any of the property is described or identified in the application.
A freezing notice may be issued under subsection (3) for all property acquired after the order is made —
by the person; or
by another person at the request or direction of the first‑mentioned person.
When considering an application for a freezing notice, a Justice of the Peace must —
consider each matter that is alleged by the applicant as a ground for issuing the freezing notice; and
if the justice decides to issue the freezing notice — set out in the notice each ground that the justice finds is a ground on which the notice may be issued.
Any income or other property derived from the property while the freezing notice is in force is taken to be part of the property.
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