Australian Capital Territory Current Acts

NATURE CONSERVATION ACT 2014 - SECT 353

    (1)     A thing seized under this part must be returned to its owner, or reasonable compensation must be paid to the owner by the Territory for the loss of the thing, unless—

        (a)     a prosecution for an offence against a territory law in connection with the thing is begun within 1 year after the day the seizure is made and the thing is required to be produced in evidence in the prosecution; or

        (b)     an application for the forfeiture of the seized thing is made to a court under the Confiscation of Criminal Assets Act 2003

or another territory law within 1 year after the day the seizure is made; or

        (c)     all proceedings in relation to the offence with which the seizure was connected have ended and the court has not made an order about the thing.

    (2)     However, this section does not apply to a thing—

        (a)     if the conservator believes on reasonable grounds that the only practical use of the thing in relation to the premises where it was seized would be an offence against this Act; or

        (b)     if possession of it by its owner would be an offence.