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Hello all,

Two Irish statutes form the template for the UK Proceeds of Crime Bill, 2001. They are the Proceeds of Crime Act, 1996 and the Criminal Assets Bureau Act, 1996, respectively:

http://www.bailii.org/ie/legis/num_act/poca1996160/
http://www.bailii.org/ie/legis/num_act/caba1996231/

Anyone wondering about the Human Rights Act implications of the UK Bill might like to know that the Irish statutes have survived many challenges to their constitutionality, most recently in the Supreme Court last Thursday (ironically enough, on the same day that the UK government introduced its Bill):

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2001/1019/courts2.htm

The cases challenging the validity of the Acts rely not only upon the Irish Constitution but also upon the European Convention on Human Rights (not directly, however, but indirectly as a means of interpreting the constitution) which is suggestive that the UK Bill could survive Human Rights Act scrutiny, at least in a UK court, though what the European Court of Human Rights might make of the Irish Acts or the UK Bill is anybody's guess.

All the best

Eoin.

EOIN O'DELL BCL(NUI) BCL(Oxon)
Editor, Dublin University Law Journal.
Barrister, Lecturer in Law, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland.
(353/0 1) 608 1178 (w) 677 0449 (fx)
(All opinions are personal. No legal responsibility whatsoever is accepted.)