New Zealand Legislation: Acts
Acts are laws made by Parliament
(1) In this section, unless the context otherwise requires,—
Forfeit property means any—
(a) Marine life and any proceeds from the sale of marine life; or
(b) Property—
forfeit to the Crown under section 18G of this Act
Interest means a legal or equitable interest in that forfeit property that existed at the time of the forfeiture; but does not include any interest (including ownership) in any foreign vessel or foreign-owned New Zealand fishing vessel or a foreign-operated fish carrier.
(2) The Director-General shall, within 10 working days after the date of any forfeiture under section 255 of this Act, publicly notify the details of the forfeit property and the rights of persons to apply under this section.
(3) Any person claiming an interest in any forfeit property may, within 35 working days after the date of the forfeiture, apply to a District Court for relief from the effect of forfeiture on that interest.
(4) Every application under subsection (2) of this section shall contain sufficient information to identify the interest and the property in which it is claimed, and shall include—
(a) A full description of the forfeit property in which the interest is claimed, including reference to any registration or serial number; and
(b) Full details of the interest or interests claimed, including,—
(i) Whether the interest is legal or equitable; and
(ii) Whether the interest is by way of security or otherwise; and
(iii) If the interest is by way of security, details of the security arrangement and any other property included in that arrangement; and
(iv) Whether the interest is noted on any register maintained pursuant to statute; and
(v) Any other interests in the property known to the applicant; and
(c) The applicant's estimate of the value of the forfeit property and of the value of the claimed interest.
(5) The Court shall hear all applications in respect of the same property together, unless it considers that it would not be in the interests of justice to do so.
(6) The Court shall, in respect of every application made under subsection (3) of this section,—
(a) Determine the value of the forfeit property, being the amount the property would realise if sold at public auction in New Zealand:
(b) Determine the nature, extent, and, if possible, the value of any applicant's interest in the property:
(c) Determine the cost to the Department of the prosecution of the offence which resulted in the forfeiture, and the seizure, holding, and anticipated cost of disposal of the forfeit property, including the Court proceedings in respect of that seizure, holding, and disposal.
(7) Having determined the matters specified in subsection (6) of this section, the Court may, after having regard to—
(a) The purpose of this Act; and
(b) The effect of the offence from which the forfeiture arose on the marine reserve; and
(c) The effect of the offence from which the forfeiture arose on persons who use the marine reserve; and
(d) The effect of offending of the type from which the forfeiture arose on the marine reserve; and
(e) The effect of offending of the type from which the forfeiture arose on persons who use the marine reserve; and
(f) The social and economic effects on the person who owned the property, and on persons employed by that person, of non-release of the property or quota; and
(g) The previous offending history (if any) of the persons from whose convictions the forfeiture arose; and
(h) The economic benefits that accrued or might have accrued to the owners of the property through the commission of the offence; and
(i) The prevalence of offending of the type from which the forfeiture arose; and
(j) The cost to the Department of the prosecution of the offence which resulted in the forfeiture, and the seizure, holding, and anticipated cost of disposal of the property, including the Court proceedings in respect of that seizure, holding, and disposal; and
(k) Such other matters as the Court thinks relevant,—
and, subject to subsections (8) and (9) of this section, make an order or orders providing relief (either in whole or part) from the effect of forfeiture on any of the interests determined under subsection (6) of this section.
(8) No order shall be made under subsection (7) of this section, unless it is necessary to avoid manifest injustice.
(9) If the owner of the forfeit property was the person convicted of the offence in respect of which the property was forfeit, no order made under subsection (7) of this section in respect of that forfeit property shall have effect to the extent that it, together with any other order made under that subsection in respect of the same forfeit property, has the effect of allowing less than 40 percent of the value of the forfeit property to remain forfeit to the Crown.
(10) Subsection (9) of this section does not prevent the return of up to 100 percent of the value of any forfeit property to any owner of property other than the person convicted of the offence in respect of which the property was forfeit.
(11) Without limiting subsection (7) of this section, any order under that subsection may order one or more of the following:
(a) The retention of the forfeit property by the Crown:
(b) The return of some or all of the forfeit property to the owner at the time of forfeiture, with or without the prior payment to the Crown of a sum of money:
(c) The sale of some or all of the forfeit property, with directions as to the manner of sale and dispersal of proceeds:
(d) The delivery of some or all of the forfeit property to a person with an interest in the property, with or without directions as to payment of a sum of money to specified persons (including the Crown) prior to such delivery:
(e) The reinstatement (notwithstanding the forfeiture) of any interest that was forfeit or cancelled as a result of a forfeiture.
(12) This section does not require the Crown to pay, or secure the payment of, any sum of money to any person claiming an interest in forfeit property, other than the net proceeds of sale of forfeit property under a court order made under subsection (7) of this section.
(13) For the purpose of assisting the Court in determining any application for relief, the Director-General and any employee or agent of the Ministry is entitled to appear before the Court and be heard.
(14) Any forfeiture under section 18G of this Act, or any payment of a sum of money or delivery of property under subsection (7) of this section, to persons claiming an interest, shall be in addition to, and not in substitution for, any other penalty that may be imposed by the Court or by this Act.
Sections 18A to 18J were inserted, as from 1 October 1996, by section 316(1) Fisheries Act 1996 (1996 No 88). See clause 2 Fisheries Act Commencement Order (No 2) 1996 (SR 1996/255).