Drug Trafficking Offences (Amendment) Act, 2000 (No. 5 of 2000)

Summary

This is a Virgin Islands legislative Act that amends the Drug Trafficking Offences Act, 1992 (No. 5 of 1992). It makes extensive technical changes to the confiscation-order regime for drug trafficking offences, updates definitions, and introduces new procedural powers for courts, prosecutors and defendants in confiscation proceedings, as well as a tipping-off offence linked to disclosures about suspected drug money laundering.

• Confiscation orders: Amends sections 5-8 and inserts new sections 5A and 8A-8E, giving courts power to postpone benefit/amount determinations (generally up to six months, or three months after an appeal is disposed of), and to make confiscation orders where a defendant has died or absconded, or to reconsider cases where the court did not originally proceed under section 5.
• Prosecutor and defendant statements: Introduces a formal prosecutor's statement procedure (new section 7) and a new section 7A empowering the court to order a defendant to provide information within a specified time, with adverse inferences permitted for non-compliance without reasonable excuse.
• Standard of proof: Sets the civil standard of proof for determining whether a person has benefited from drug trafficking and the amount recoverable.
• Tipping-off offence: Creates/expands an offence of disclosing information likely to prejudice an investigation following a known or suspected disclosure relating to drug money laundering, punishable on summary conviction by a fine up to fifty thousand dollars or up to five years imprisonment (or both), and on indictment by a fine up to one hundred thousand dollars or up to fifteen years imprisonment (or both).
• Legal adviser defence: Adds a defence/exemption allowing professional legal advisers to disclose information to clients for the purpose of giving legal advice, or in connection with legal proceedings, unless done to further a criminal purpose.
• Regulations: Inserts a new section 38A empowering the Governor in Council to make regulations for the effective carrying out of the Act.

The amendments are procedural and substantive changes to the criminal confiscation framework and are directed primarily at courts, prosecutors, defendants and legal advisers involved in drug trafficking prosecutions and asset confiscation proceedings, rather than creating ongoing filing or licensing obligations for financial services businesses.

Key obligations

• A prosecutor who asks the court to proceed under section 5 (or applies under sections 8A, 8C, 8D or 8E) must give the court a prosecutor's statement of relevant matters within the period the court directs.
• A defendant subject to a court order under new section 7A must provide the specified information to the court by the date and in the manner specified in the order, or risk an adverse inference being drawn from non-compliance.
• A person who knows or suspects that a disclosure relating to drug money laundering has been made must not disclose information likely to prejudice a resulting investigation, subject to criminal penalties.
• The prosecutor's power to seek a confiscation order against an absconded defendant under new section 8A may not be exercised until at least two years after the date the defendant is found to have absconded.

Applies to

defendants in drug trafficking proceedings, prosecutors, courts, professional legal advisers