Landmines Act 1998

Criminal proceedings

20Consents to prosecutions

Proceedings for a section 2 offence shall not be instituted—

(a)in England and Wales, except by or with the consent of the Attorney General;

(b)in Northern Ireland, except by or with the consent of the Attorney General for Northern Ireland.

21Customs and Excise prosecutions

(1)Subject to section 20, proceedings for a section 2 offence may be instituted by order of the Commissioners of Customs and Excise if it appears to them that the offence has involved either—

(a)the movement of a prohibited object into or out of any country or territory; or

(b)any proposal or attempt to move a prohibited object into or out of any country or territory.

(2)Any proceedings for an offence which are instituted under subsection (1) shall be commenced in the name of an officer.

(3)In the case of the death, removal, discharge or absence of the officer in whose name any proceedings for an offence were commenced under this section, those proceedings may be continued by another officer.

(4)Where the Commissioners of Customs and Excise investigate, or propose to investigate, any matter with a view to determining—

(a)whether there are grounds for believing that a section 2 offence has been committed, or

(b)whether a person should be prosecuted for such an offence,

that matter shall be treated as an assigned matter within the meaning of the [1979 c. 2.] Customs and Excise Management Act 1979.

(5)Nothing in this section shall be taken—

(a)to prevent any person (including any officer) who has power to arrest, detain or prosecute any person for a section 2 offence from doing so; or

(b)to prevent a court from proceeding to deal with a person brought before it following his arrest by an officer for a section 2 offence, even though the proceedings have not been instituted by an order made under subsection (1).

(6)In this section “officer” means a person commissioned by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise.

(7)This section does not apply to proceedings in Scotland.

22Forfeiture in case of conviction

(1)The court by or before which a person is convicted of an offence under this Act may order that anything shown to the court’s satisfaction to relate to the offence shall be forfeited and either destroyed or otherwise dealt with in such manner as the court may order.

(2)In particular, the court may order that the thing is to be dealt with as the Secretary of State may see fit; and, in such a case, the powers of the Secretary of State shall include power to direct the destruction of that thing or to secure its disposal in any other way that appears to him to be appropriate.

(3)Where—

(a)the court proposes to order anything to be forfeited under this section, and

(b)a person claiming to have an interest in it applies to be heard by the court,

the court must not order it to be forfeited unless that person has been given an opportunity to show cause why the order should not be made.

23Offences by bodies corporate etc

(1)Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of—

(a)a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or

(b)any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity,

he (as well as the body corporate) shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(2)In subsection (1) “director”, in relation to a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members, means a member of the body corporate.

(3)Where an offence under this Act is committed by a Scottish partnership and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of a partner, he (as well as the partnership) shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.