Statutory Instrument 1996 No. 2880

The Drug Trafficking Act 1994 (Designated Countries and Territories) Order 1996

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© Crown Copyright 1996

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1996 No. 2880

CRIMINAL LAW, ENGLAND AND WALES

The Drug Trafficking Act 1994 (Designated Countries and Territories) Order 1996

At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 19th day of November 1996

Present,

The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council

Her Majesty, in exercise of the powers conferred upon Her by section 39 of the Drug Trafficking Act 1994^[1], is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:

Title, Commencement and Extent
    1.—(1)  This Order may be cited as the Drug Trafficking Act 1994 (Designated Countries and Territories) Order 1996 and shall come into force on 1st January 1997.

    (2)  This Order extends to England and Wales only.

Interpretation
    2.    In this Order—
"the Act" means the Drug Trafficking Act 1994 and "the relevant provisions of the Act" are Part I, except sections 10 and 16, and Part IV of that Act;


"designated country" means a country or territory designated under article 3(1) of this Order;


"appropriate authority" of a designated country means—
 (a) the authority specified opposite that country in Schedule 1 to this Order;
 (b) where no authority is so specified, the authority appearing to the court to be the appropriate authority of that country for the purposes of sections 39 and 40 of the Act, and of the other relevant provisions of the Act as applied under article 3(2) of this Order;


"a court of a designated country" includes a court of any state or territory of a designated country.

Designation of and application of the Act to countries and territories
    3.—(1)  Each of the countries and territories specified in Schedule 1 to this Order is hereby designated for the purposes of sections 39 and 40 of the Act.

    (2)  In relation to a designated country, the relevant provisions of the Act shall apply, subject to the modifications specified in Schedule 2 to this Order, to external confiscation orders and to proceedings which have been or are to be instituted in the designated country and may result in an external confiscation order being made there, and, accordingly, in relation to such orders and such proceedings, the relevant provisions of the Act shall have effect as set out in Schedule 3 to this Order.

Proof of orders and judgments of court in a designated country
    4.—(1)  For the purposes of sections 39 and 40 of the Act, and of the other relevant provisions of the Act, as applied under article 3(2) of this Order—
 (a) any order made or judgment given by a court in a designated country purporting to bear the seal of that court or to be signed by any person in his capacity as a judge, magistrate or officer of the court, shall be deemed without further proof to have been duly sealed or, as the case may be, to have been signed by that person; and
 (b) a document, duly authenticated, which purports to be a copy of any order made or judgment given by a court in a designated country shall be deemed without further proof to be a true copy.

    (2)  A document purporting to be a copy of any order made or judgment given by a court in a designated country is duly authenticated for the purpose of paragraph 1(b) above if it purports to be certified by any person in his capacity as a judge, magistrate or officer of the court in question or by or on behalf of the appropriate authority of the designated country.

Evidence in relation to proceedings and orders in a designated country
    5.—(1)  For the purposes of sections 39 and 40 of the Act, and of the other relevant provisions of the Act as applied under article 3(2) of this Order, a certificate purporting to be issued by or on behalf of the appropriate authority of a designated country, stating—
 (a) that proceedings have been instituted and have not been concluded, or that proceedings are to be instituted, there;
 (b) in a case to which section 41(2) of the Act, as modified by Schedule 2 to this Order applies, that the defendant has been notified as specified in that paragraph;
 (c) that an external confiscation order is in force and is not subject to appeal;
 (d) that all or a certain amount of the sum payable under an external confiscation order remains unpaid in the designated country, or that other property recoverable under an external confiscation order remains unrecovered there;
 (e) that any person has been notified of any proceedings in accordance with the law of the designated country; or
 (f) that an order (however described) made or to be made by a court of the designated country has the purpose, or, as the case may be, will have the purpose, of recovering payments or other rewards received in connection with drug trafficking or their value;
shall, in any proceedings in the High Court, be admissible as evidence of the facts so stated.

    (2)  In any such proceedings a statement contained in a document, duly authenticated, which purports to have been received in evidence or to be a copy of a document so received, or to set out or summarise evidence given in proceedings in a court in a designated country, shall be admissible as evidence of any fact stated therein.

    (3)  A document is duly authenticated for the purposes of paragraph (2) above if it purports to be certified by any person in his capacity as a judge, magistrate or officer of the court in a designated country, or by or on behalf of the appropriate authority of the designated country, to have been received in evidence or to be a copy of a document so received, or, as the case may be, to be the original document containing or summarising the evidence or a true copy of that document.

    (4)  Nothing in this article shall prejudice the admission of any evidence, whether contained in any document or otherwise, which is admissible apart from this article.

Certificate as to appropriate authority of a designated country
    6.    Where in relation to any designated country no authority is specified in Schedule 1 to this Order, a certificate made by the Secretary of State to the effect that the authority specified therein is the appropriate authority for the purposes of sections 39 and 40 of the Act, and of the other relevant provisions of the Act as applied by article 3(2) of this Order shall be sufficient evidence of that fact.

Representation of government of a designated country
    7.    A request for assistance sent to the Secretary of State by the appropriate authority of a designated country shall, unless the contrary is shown, be deemed to constitute the authority of that country for the Crown Prosecution Service or the Commissioners of Customs and Excise to act on its behalf in any proceedings in the High Court under section 40 of the Act or any other provision of the Act as applied by article 3(2) of this Order.

Satisfaction of confiscation order in a designated country
    8.—(1)  Where—
 (a) a confiscation order has been made under section 2 of the Act; and
 (b) a request has been sent by the Secretary of State to the appropriate authority of a designated country for assistance in enforcing that order; and
 (c) in execution of that request property is recovered in that country, the amount payable under the confiscation order shall be treated as reduced by the value of the property so recovered.

    (2)  For the purposes of this article, and without prejudice to the admissibility of any evidence which may be admissible apart from this paragraph, a certificate purporting to be issued by or on behalf of the appropriate authority of a designated country stating that property has been recovered there in execution of a request by the Secretary of State, stating the value of the property so recovered and the date on which it was recovered shall, in any proceedings in a court in England and Wales, be admissible as evidence of the facts so stated.

Currency Conversion
    9.—(1)  Where the value of property recovered as described in article 8(1) of this Order is expressed in a currency other than that of the United Kingdom, the extent to which the amount payable under the confiscation order is to be reduced under that paragraph shall be calculated on the basis of the exchange rate prevailing on the date on which the property was recovered in the designated country concerned.

    (2)  Where an amount of money payable or remaining to be paid under an external confiscation order registered in the High Court under section 40 of the Act is expressed in a currency other than that of the United Kingdom, for the purpose of any action taken in relation to that order under the Act as applied under article 3(2) of this Order the amount shall be converted into the currency of the United Kingdom on the basis of the exchange rate prevailing on the date of registration of the order.

    (3)  For the purposes of this article a written certificate purporting to be signed by any person acting in his capacity as an officer of any bank in the United Kingdom and stating the exchange rate prevailing on a specified date shall be admissible as evidence of the facts so stated.

Revocation
    10.    The Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986 (Designated Countries and Territories) Order 1990^[2] is hereby revoked.

N. H. Nicholls

Clerk of the Privy Council

[1] 1994 c. 37. back

[2] S.I. 1990/1199, amended by S.I. 1991/1465, 1992/1722, 1993/1792, 1993/3158 and 1994/1641. back

Explanatory Note