Australian Capital Territory Current Acts

UNLAWFUL GAMBLING ACT 2009 - SECT 37

    (1)     An instrument of gambling seized under section 35 must be returned to its owner, or reasonable compensation must be paid to the owner by the Territory for the loss of the instrument, unless—

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

        (b)     an application for the forfeiture of the seized instrument 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 made an order about the instrument.

    (2)     However, this section does not apply to an instrument of gambling—

        (a)     if the commission believes on reasonable grounds that the only practical use of the instrument 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.