Criminal Proceeds Bill draconian and dangerous

The Government's Criminal Proceeds and Instruments Bill, introduced into Parliament this afternoon, is an attack on the principles of justice, the Green Party says.

"This Bill is an affront to the principles of justice and law," said Green Party Justice Spokesperson Nandor Tanczos.

"It is a mutilation of the criminal law to make people liable under a civil burden of proof.

"Civil liability is about restitution for loss. This Bill uses civil procedures to punish people for unproved and unspecified crimes. It is contemptible.

"The Bill allows assets to be seized from people, even if they have never been prosecuted, or even worse, if their convictions have been quashed. It is an outright assault on basic principles of justice."

Nandor said that retrospective provisions in the Bill made it even more offensive.

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