7.—(1) Subject to regulations 4 and 6, where—
(a)any property has come into the possession of the service police or a person's commanding officer in connection with the investigation of a service offence,
(b)no person is currently charged with a service offence as a result of that investigation, and
(c)an application for a determination under paragraph (2) has been sent to a commanding officer,
that commanding officer may make a determination under paragraph (2).
(2) A commanding officer may make a determination for the delivery of the property to—
(a)the person in whose possession the property was before it was seized, or
(b)the person who claims to be the owner of the property.
(3) An application under paragraph (1)(c) may be made by—
(a)a person claiming to be the owner of the property, or
(b)a person in whose possession the property was before it was seized.
(4) Before making a determination for delivery of the property, a commanding officer must invite representations from the service police.
(5) Where a determination has been made under this regulation, the commanding officer must send a copy of it to—
(a)the person who made the application,
(b)the person appearing to the commanding officer to be the owner of the property (unless that person is the applicant), and
(c)the service police, where the service police made representations or are in possession of the property.
(6) A determination made under paragraph (2) cannot take effect until the time limit for an appeal under regulation 10 has expired with no appeal being made, or where an appeal has been made under that regulation, until the appeal has been determined.
(7) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(c), “a commanding officer” means—
(a)the commanding officer of a person in whose possession the property was before it was seized under Part 3 of the Act, or
(b)the commanding officer of a person who claims to be the owner of the property.