124.Section 97(1) of SOCPA confers on the Secretary of State power by order (subject to the affirmative procedure) to make provision to allow magistrates’ courts to make confiscation orders under Part 2 of POCA. A similar power is conferred on the Northern Ireland Department of Justice in respect of Part 4 of POCA. Section 97(2) of SOCPA provides that the power for magistrates’ courts to make a confiscation order is subject to a restriction that the amount does not exceed £10,000. Confiscation orders above this amount could only be made in a Crown Court, as now. The intention behind this restriction is that magistrates’ courts should be empowered to make confiscation orders only in less serious cases. No order under section 97(1) of SOCPA has yet been made.
125.Subsections (2) to (4) amend section 97 of SOCPA so as to confer power on the Secretary of State and the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland to vary, by order, the £10,000 limit. As a result of the amendment made to section 172 of SOCPA by subsection (5), any such order is subject to the affirmative procedure.