South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts29—Provisions relating to seizure
(1) A seizure order
under this Part—
(a) must
be in the form of a written notice served on the owner or person in control,
or apparently in control, of the thing to which the order relates; and
(b) may
be varied or revoked by further such written notice.
(2) If a seizure order
is issued under this Part, a person who removes or interferes with the thing
to which the order relates without the approval of a Competent Authority
before an order is made under subsection (3)(b) in respect of the thing
or the seizure order is discharged under subsection (3)(c) is guilty of
an offence.
Maximum penalty: $5 000.
(3) If a thing has
been seized or made subject to a seizure order under this Part, the following
provisions apply:
(a) the
thing must, if it has been seized, be held pending proceedings for an offence
against this Act related to the thing seized, unless a Competent Authority, on
application, authorises its release to the person from whom it was seized, or
to a person who had legal title to it at the time of its seizure, subject to
such conditions as a Competent Authority thinks fit (including conditions as
to the giving of security for satisfaction of an order under
paragraph (b)(ii));
(b) if
proceedings for an offence against this Act relating to the thing are
instituted within the prescribed period after its seizure or the issuing of
the seizure order and the defendant is convicted or found guilty of the
offence, the court may—
(i)
order that it be forfeited to a Competent Authority and,
if appropriate, that the defendant pay to the Competent Authority an amount
equal to the cost to the Competent Authority of disposing of, or destroying,
the thing; or
(ii)
if it has been released pursuant to paragraph (a) or
is the subject of a seizure order—order that it be forfeited to a
Competent Authority or that the person to whom it was released or the
defendant pay to a Competent Authority an amount equal to its market value at
the time of its seizure or the issuing of the seizure order, as the court
thinks fit;
(c)
if—
(i)
proceedings are not instituted for an offence against
this Act relating to the thing within the prescribed period after its seizure
or the issuing of the seizure order; or
(ii)
proceedings have been so instituted and—
(A) the defendant is found not guilty of
the offence; or
(B) the defendant is convicted or found
guilty of the offence but no order for forfeiture is made under
paragraph (b),
then—
(iii)
in the case of a thing seized—the person from whom
the thing was seized, or any person with legal title to it, is entitled to
recover from a Competent Authority (if necessary, by action in a court of
competent jurisdiction) the thing itself, or if it has been damaged or
destroyed, compensation of an amount equal to its market value at the time of
its seizure; or
(iv)
in the case of a thing subject to a seizure
order—the order is discharged.
(4) In
subsection (3)—
"the prescribed period" means six months or such longer period as the
Administrative and Disciplinary Division of the Court may, on application by a
Competent Authority, allow.