Part 1—Preliminary

4 Definitions

forfeiture order means an order made by the ICC under paragraph 2(b) of article 77 of the Statute for the forfeiture of proceeds of a crime within the jurisdiction of the ICC.

Part 11—Forfeiture of proceeds of international crimes


155 Requests for enforcement of forfeiture orders

(1) This section applies if:
(a) the ICC requests the Attorney-General to make arrangements for the enforcement of a forfeiture order made in relation to property that is reasonably suspected of being in Australia; and
(b) the Attorney-General is satisfied:
(i) that a person has been convicted by the ICC of the crime within the jurisdiction of the ICC to which the order relates; and
(ii) the conviction and the order are not subject to appeal or further appeal in the ICC.

(2) The Attorney-General is to execute the request by authorising, by written notice in the statutory form, a proceeds of crime authority to apply for the registration of the order in a court specified in the notice.

(3) The court that the Attorney-General specifies in the notice under subsection (2) must be a court with proceeds jurisdiction in a State or Territory in which the property, or some or all of the property, is reasonably suspected of being located.

156 Registration of order

(1) If a proceeds of crime authority applies to a court for registration of an order in accordance with an authorisation under section 155, the court must register the order, unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.

(2) The proceeds of crime authority must give notice of the application:
(a) to specified persons who the authority has reason to suspect may have an interest in the property; and
(b) to such other persons as the court directs.

(3) However, the court may consider the application without notice having been given if the proceeds of crime authority requests the court to do so.

(4) An order is to be registered in a court by the registration, under the rules of the court, of a copy of the order authenticated by the ICC.

(5) Subject to subsection (6), a faxed copy of an authenticated copy of an order is, for the purposes of subsection (4), taken to be the same as the authenticated copy.

(6) A registration effected by registering a faxed copy of an authenticated copy of a forfeiture order ceases to have effect after 21 days unless the authenticated copy has been filed by then in the court that registered the order .

157 Effect of order

(1) A forfeiture order registered in a court has effect, and may be enforced, as if it were an order made by the court under the Proceeds of Crime Act at the time of registration.

(2) In particular, section 68 of that Act applies in relation to the forfeiture order as if:
(a) the reference in subparagraph 68(1)(b)(i) of that Act to a proceeds of crime authority having applied for the order were a reference to the authority having applied for registration of the order under section 156 of this Act; and
(b) subparagraph 68(1)(b)(ii) of that Act were omitted.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) and to section 158, property that is subject to a forfeiture order registered under this Part may be disposed of, or otherwise dealt with, in accordance with any direction of the Attorney-General or of a person authorised in
writing by the Attorney-General for the purposes of this subsection.

(4) In giving a direction under subsection (3), the Attorney-General or authorised person must consider any order by the ICC for the property that is subject to the forfeiture order to be transferred to the ICC Trust Fund.

(5) Sections 69 and 70, Divisions 5 to 7 of Part 2-2, Part 4-2 and sections 322 and 323 of the Proceeds of Crime Act do not apply in relation to an order registered under this Part.

158 Effect on third parties of registration of forfeiture order Applications by third parties

(1) If a court registers under section 156 a forfeiture order in relation to property, a person who:
(a) claims an interest in the property; and
(b) was not convicted of a crime within the jurisdiction of the ICC to which the order relates;
may apply to the court for an order under subsection (2).

Orders by the court

(2) If, on an application for an order under this subsection, the court is satisfied that:
(a) the applicant was not, in any way, involved in the
commission of a crime within the jurisdiction of the ICC to which the order relates; and
(b) if the applicant acquired the interest in the property at the time of or after the commission of such a crime—the property was not proceeds of such a crime;
the court must make an order:
(c) declaring the nature, extent and value (as at the time when the order is made) of the applicant’s interest in the property; and
(d) either:
(i) directing the Commonwealth to transfer the interest to the applicant; or
(ii) declaring that there is payable by the Commonwealth to the applicant an amount equal to the value declared under paragraph (c).

Certain people need leave to apply

(3) A person who was given notice of, or appeared at, the hearing held in connection with the making of the order is not entitled to apply under subsection (1) unless the court gives leave.

(4) The court may grant leave if it is satisfied that there are special grounds for doing so.

(5) Without limiting subsection (4), the court may grant a person leave if the court is satisfied that:
(a) the person, for a good reason, did not attend the hearing referred to in subsection (3) although the person had notice of the hearing; or
(b) particular evidence that the person proposes to adduce in connection with the proposed application under
subsection (1) was not available to the person at the time of the hearing referred to in subsection (3).

Period for applying

(6) Unless the court gives leave, an application under subsection (1) is to be made before the end of 6 weeks beginning on the day when the order is registered in the court.

(7) The court may give leave to apply outside that period if the court is satisfied that the person’s failure to apply within that period was not due to any neglect on the person’s part.

Procedural matters

(8) A person who applies under subsection (1) must give to the proceeds of crime authority authorised under subsection 155(2) notice, as prescribed, of the application.

(9) That proceeds of crime authority is to be a party to proceedings on an application under subsection
(1). The Attorney-General may intervene in such proceedings .


159 Forfeiture may be treated as pecuniary penalty order

(1) This section applies if the Attorney General is unable to give effect to a forfeiture order.

(2) The Attorney General must take measures to recover:
(a) the value specified by the International Criminal Court to be the value of the property ordered by that Court to be forfeited; or
(b) if the International Criminal Court has not specified the value of the property ordered by that Court to be forfeited—the value that, in the Attorney General’s opinion, is the value of that property.

(3) The forfeiture order is taken, for the purposes of the Proceeds of Crime Act, to be a pecuniary penalty order for an amount equal to the value referred to in subsection (2) and may be enforced as if it were a pecuniary penalty order made by the court in which the forfeiture order was registered.

(4) Division 4 of Part 2 4 of the Proceeds of Crime Act applies to the enforcement of the forfeiture order as a pecuniary penalty order as if:

(a) references in that Division to indictable offences or serious offences were references to crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC; and
(b) the reference in paragraph 142(2)(a) of that Act to the order being discharged under Division 5 were a reference to the conviction being quashed by the ICC; and
(c) subsections 140(3) and (5) of that Act were omitted.

4 Definitions

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:


...

forfeiture order means an order made by the ICC under paragraph 2(b) of article 77 of the Statute for the forfeiture of proceeds of a crime within the jurisdiction of the ICC.

An Act to facilitate compliance by Australia with obligations under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and for related purposes

Part 4 Other requests by ICC

Division 14—Identification, tracing, and freezing or seizure, of proceeds of crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC

Subdivision F—Search warrants relating to proceeds of crime and property-tracking documents

97 Requests for search warrants

(1) If:

the request from the ICC referred to in section 81 involves the issue of a search warrant relating to the proceeds of the crime within the jurisdiction of the ICC or a property-tracking document; and
the Attorney-General is satisfied that:

the request relates to an investigation being conducted by the Prosecutor or a proceeding before the ICC; and proceeds of the crime, or a property-tracking document in relation to the crime, is reasonably suspected of being located in Australia;

the Attorney-General may authorise an authorised officer of an enforcement agency to apply to a magistrate of a specified State or Territory for a search warrant under the Proceeds of Crime Act in relation to the proceeds or document.

(2) The State or Territory specified must be a State or Territory in which:

the proceeds, or some or all of the proceeds, are reasonably suspected of being located; or

the document is, or some or all of the documents are, reasonably suspected of being located.

98 Applying for and issuing search warrants

If so authorised, the authorised officer may apply for such a search warrant, in relation to those proceeds or that document, in respect of the crime.

Part 3-5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act applies to the application, and to any search warrant issued as a result.

It applies as if: references in that Part to a property-tracking document were references to a property-tracking document relating to the crime; and

references in that Part to a magistrate were references to a magistrate of the State or Territory specified in the authorised officer’s authorisation under subsection 97(1); and
paragraph 228(1)(d) and sections 256 to 258 of that Act were omitted.

99 Seizure of other property and documents
(1) A search warrant issued under Part 3-5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act in relation to a crime within the jurisdiction of the ICC authorises an authorised officer to seize property or a thing that he
or she finds and believes on reasonable grounds to be:

proceeds of the crime or a property-tracking document in relation to the crime, although not of the kind specified in the warrant; or

proceeds of, or a property-tracking document in relation to, another crime within the jurisdiction of the ICC in relation to which a search warrant issued under that Part is in force; or something that:

is relevant to a proceeding in the ICC in respect of the crime within the jurisdiction of the ICC; or
will afford evidence as to the commission of an Australian criminal offence.

(2) However, this section only applies if the authorised officer believes on reasonable grounds that it is necessary to seize the property or thing in order to prevent its concealment, loss or destruction or its use in committing an offence.

An Act to facilitate compliance by Australia with obligations under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and for related purposes

Part 11—Forfeiture of proceeds of international crimes

155 Requests for enforcement of forfeiture orders

(1) This section applies if:

the ICC requests the Attorney-General to make arrangements for the enforcement of a forfeiture order made in relation to property that is reasonably suspected of being in Australia; and
the Attorney-General is satisfied:

that a person has been convicted by the ICC of the crime within the jurisdiction of the ICC to which the order relates; and

the conviction and the order are not subject to appeal or further appeal in the ICC.

(2) The Attorney-General is to execute the request by authorising, by written notice in the statutory form, a proceeds of crime authority to apply for the registration of the order in a court specified in the notice.

(3) The court that the Attorney-General specifies in the notice under subsection (2) must be a court with proceeds jurisdiction in a State or Territory in which the property, or some or all of the property, is reasonably suspected of being located.

156 Registration of order

If a proceeds of crime authority applies to a court for registration of an order in accordance with an authorisation under section 155, the court must register the order, unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.

The proceeds of crime authority must give notice of the application:
to specified persons who the authority has reason to suspect may have an interest in the property; and
to such other persons as the court directs.

However, the court may consider the application without notice having been given if the proceeds of crime authority requests the court to do so.

An order is to be registered in a court by the registration, under the rules of the court, of a copy of the order authenticated by the ICC.

Subject to subsection (6), a faxed copy of an authenticated copy of an order is, for the purposes of subsection (4), taken to be the same as the authenticated copy.

A registration effected by registering a faxed copy of an authenticated copy of a forfeiture order ceases to have effect after 21 days unless the authenticated copy has been filed by then in the court that registered the order.

157 Effect of order

(1) A forfeiture order registered in a court has effect, and may be enforced, as if it were an order made by the court under the Proceeds of Crime Act at the time of registration.

(2) In particular, section 68 of that Act applies in relation to the forfeiture order as if:

the reference in subparagraph 68(1)(b)(i) of that Act to a proceeds of crime authority having applied for the order were a reference to the authority having applied for registration of the order under section 156 of this Act; and

subparagraph 68(1)(b)(ii) of that Act were omitted.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) and to section 158, property that is subject to a forfeiture order registered under this Part may be disposed of, or otherwise dealt with, in accordance with any direction of the Attorney-General or of a person authorised in writing by the Attorney-General for the purposes of this subsection.

(4) In giving a direction under subsection (3), the Attorney-General or authorised person must consider any order by the ICC for the property that is subject to the forfeiture order to be transferred to the ICC Trust Fund.

(5) Sections 69 and 70, Divisions 5 to 7 of Part 2-2, Part 4-2 and sections 322 and 323 of the Proceeds of Crime Act do not apply in relation to an order registered under this Part.

158 Effect on third parties of registration of forfeiture order

Applications by third parties

(1) If a court registers under section 156 a forfeiture order in relation to property, a person who:
claims an interest in the property; and

was not convicted of a crime within the jurisdiction of the ICC to which the order relates;

may apply to the court for an order under subsection (2).

Orders by the court

(2) If, on an application for an order under this subsection, the court is satisfied that:
the applicant was not, in any way, involved in the commission of a crime within the jurisdiction of the ICC to which the order relates; and

if the applicant acquired the interest in the property at the time of or after the commission of such a crime—the property was not proceeds of such a crime;

the court must make an order:

declaring the nature, extent and value (as at the time when the order is made) of the applicant’s interest in the property; and either:

directing the Commonwealth to transfer the interest to the applicant; or

declaring that there is payable by the Commonwealth to the applicant an amount equal to the value declared under paragraph (c).

Certain people need leave to apply

(3) A person who was given notice of, or appeared at, the hearing held in connection with the making of the order is not entitled to apply under subsection (1) unless the court gives leave.

(4) The court may grant leave if it is satisfied that there are special grounds for doing so.

(5) Without limiting subsection (4), the court may grant a person leave if the court is satisfied that:
the person, for a good reason, did not attend the hearing referred to in subsection (3) although the person had notice of the hearing; or

particular evidence that the person proposes to adduce in connection with the proposed application under subsection (1) was not available to the person at the time of the hearing referred to in subsection (3).

Period for applying

(6) Unless the court gives leave, an application under subsection (1) is to be made before the end of 6 weeks beginning on the day when the order is registered in the court.

(7) The court may give leave to apply outside that period if the court is satisfied that the person’s failure to apply within that period was not due to any neglect on the person’s part.

Procedural matters

(8) A person who applies under subsection (1) must give to the proceeds of crime authority authorised under subsection 155(2) notice, as prescribed, of the application.

(9) That proceeds of crime authority is to be a party to proceedings on an application under subsection (1). The Attorney-General may intervene in such proceedings.

159 Forfeiture may be treated as pecuniary penalty order

This section applies if the Attorney-General is unable to give effect to a forfeiture order.

The Attorney-General must take measures to recover:

(a) the value specified by the International Criminal Court to be the value of the property ordered by that Court to be forfeited; or

(b) if the International Criminal Court has not specified the value of the property ordered by that Court to be forfeited—the value that, in the Attorney-General’s opinion, is the value of that property.

The forfeiture order is taken, for the purposes of the Proceeds of Crime Act, to be a pecuniary penalty order for an amount equal to the value referred to in subsection (2) and may be enforced as if it were a pecuniary penalty order made by the court in which the forfeiture order was registered.

Division 4 of Part 2-4 of the Proceeds of Crime Act applies to the enforcement of the forfeiture order as a pecuniary penalty order as if:

references in that Division to indictable offences or serious offences were references to crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC; and

the reference in paragraph 142(2)(a) of that Act to the order being discharged under Division 5 were a reference to the conviction being quashed by the ICC; and

subsections 140(3) and (5) of that Act were omitted.

Article 109
Enforcement of fines and forfeiture measures
1. States Parties shall give effect to fines or forfeitures ordered by the Court under Part 7, without prejudice to the rights of bona fide third parties, and in accordance with the procedure of their national law.
2. If a State Party is unable to give effect to an order for forfeiture, it shall take measures to recover the value of the proceeds, property or assets ordered by the Court to be forfeited, without prejudice to the rights of bona fide third parties.
3. Property, or the proceeds of the sale of real property or, where appropriate, the sale of other property, which is obtained by a State Party as a result of its enforcement of a judgement of the Court shall be transferred to the Court.