Mark Warwick KC and Eleanor Vickery secure success in the Court of Appeal, in an important case establishing access to the civil courts, where property is the subject of criminal proceedings.
On 4 August 2021 the CPS obtained a restraint order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“POCA”) against Mr T and his partner Ms A. The restraint order included a substantial property (“the Farmhouse”).
On 9 November 2022 Ms A issued proceedings in the Chancery Division, against Mr T and the CPS, seeking declaratory relief as to her interest in the Farmhouse.
On 7 December 2022 the CPS applied in the Chancery Division to have the civil case struck out, on the basis that it was a abuse to use the civil courts where, through POCA, “Parliament has provided a complete and exhaustive code for the resolution of disputed property rights which may arise between the CPS and a third party”.
On 3 March 2023 Mr T pleaded guilty to supplying class A drugs and money laundering and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. Confiscation proceedings began against him.
On 23 May 2023 Mr Justice Michael Green granted the CPS application, and struck out the civil case. His judgment is reported at [2023] 1 WLR 3076.
On 15 August 2023 Arnold LJ granted permission to appeal “because of the importance of the issue”.
On 15 March 2024 the Court of Appeal handed down its reserved judgment. It unanimously rejected the CPS contention that POCA was a complete and exhaustive code for the resolution of disputed property rights between the CPS and a third party, and dismissed the CPS application. In his lead judgment Newey LJ explained that “there is no rule barring a third party from seeking to have the ownership of property relevant to confiscation proceedings determined by a civil court, even where the issue is between the third party and the prosecutor”.
In the future, the particular facts of the individual case will need to be carefully considered, in order to decide whether property rights should be determined by the Crown Court or a civil court.