Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1995

71 Benefit from commission of offence

(1) For the purposes of this Chapter, an accused shall be held to have benefited from the commission of an offence if in connection with its commission he has obtained, directly or indirectly, any property or other economic advantage.

(2) Subject to subsection (4) below, in determining whether an accused has benefited from the commission of an offence and, if he has, the amount referred to in section 70(5)(a)(i) of this Act, the court may make the following assumptions, except in so far as he proves either of them, on the balance of probabilities, to be incorrect—

(a) that any property or other economic advantage which has been obtained by him since the relevant date has been obtained in connection with the commission of the offence; and

(b) that any expenditure by him since the relevant date was met out of property or other economic advantage obtained in connection with the commission of the offence.

(3) In subsection (2) above “the relevant date” means—

(a) the date of the offence; or

(b) if the offence is found to have been committed over a period of time, the date occurring at the beginning of that period.

(4) Where—

(a) the application for the confiscation order has been made in respect of two or more offences; or

(b) during the relevant period the accused has been convicted of at least one other offence to which this Chapter applies, being an offence committed after the coming into force of this Chapter,

the court may, in determining the amount referred to in section 70(5)(a)(ii) of this Act, make the assumptions set out in subsection (5) below, except in so far as the accused proves either of those assumptions, on the balance of probabilities, to be incorrect.

(5) Those assumptions are—

(a) that any property or economic advantage which has been obtained by the accused during the relevant period has been obtained in connection with the commission of an offence to which this Chapter applies; and

(b) that any expenditure by him during the relevant period was met out of property or other economic advantage obtained in connection with the commission of such an offence.

(6) In subsections (4) and (5) above, “the relevant period” means the period of six years ending with the date on which proceedings were instituted against the accused for the offence in respect of which the application for the confiscation order has been made.

(7) In this Part of this Act, “property” means any property wherever situated, whether heritable or moveable or whether corporeal or incorporeal.