Justice Minister says bill will be presented to Parliament next week to give sweeping powers to new body
The Government intends to soon pass laws to establish an authority with the power to acquire, without a court order, movable and immovable property purchased through illegally earned money, including drug trafficking.
Cabinet approval will be sought next week to present the wide-ranging Proceeds of Crime Bill to Parliament, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told the Sunday Times.
The proposed authority will have powers to acquire the property without court proceedings after establishing that it has been purchased through money gained illegally, Minister Rajapakshe said.
However, there will be legal provisions to challenge the decisions taken by the authority.
The new bill comes in the wake of recent attempts by the police to acquire property believed to be amassed with illegally earned money, mainly through the trafficking of narcotics. Some of the houses, commercial buildings, and vehicles were returned to the owners following court orders.
Minister Rajapakshe said there was no mechanism to acquire such properties, and new laws would need to be implemented within a few months as they would be helpful to overcome the shortcomings.
He said the authority would also be responsible for managing properties taken over under judicial orders vested in it and would decide if the properties should be used for state purposes or auctioned.
The authority will be able to auction property, deposit the funds in the Treasury, or use such property for state purposes. It would also be empowered to rent out buildings such as hotels or apartments and deposit the earnings with the Treasury.
The objective of setting up the authority would be to discourage persons from acquiring property with illegally gained money and make provisions to acquire such properties in a legal and speedy manner.
Source: Sunday Times Print Editionn
