Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Defendant definition

What does Defendant mean? In legal practice, “defendant” describes the party against whom court proceedings are brought, whether a civil claim or a criminal charge. In England and Wales the term is defined in the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR 2.3) as a person against whom a claim is made; it is also used in the Criminal Procedure Rules. Northern Ireland follows similar usage. In Scotland, the civil counterpart is the “defender” (claimant is the pursuer), and in criminal cases the person is referred to as the “accused” (also the “panel” in solemn proceedings). In Ireland, civil procedure uses “defendant” under the Rules of...

Confiscation under POCA 2002: calculating benefit, recoverable and available amounts, lifestyle assumptions, proportionality, joint obtaining, third-party interests (s 10A), tainted gifts, and making and enforcing orders

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes

Confiscation proceedings

Confiscation proceedings oblige the court to identify the benefit figure, the recoverable amount and the available amount for a Defendant who has gained from their criminality. The benefit represents the worth of what the defendant obtained through their wrongdoing. The recoverable amount ordinarily mirrors the defendant’s benefit. As a general rule, the court directs the defendant to pay a sum equal to that benefit unless they demonstrate that their available amount is lower than the benefit. In that event, the recoverable amount becomes the available amount. The available amount is the sum the court will order the defendant to pay towards meeting the recoverable amount, failing which they risk imprisonment in default. For illustration, a defendant might have stolen £1,000 and then lost it all gambling. That £1,000 remains their benefit. After it has been gambled away, however, the defendant’s sole remaining asset could be a £10 note. Their benefit would still be £1,000, but their available amount would be only £10. The court would therefore order the defendant to pay £10 towards the recoverable amount as directed...

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Christopher Sykes

33 Chancery Lane

Christopher acts for the prosecution and defence in cases of business crime and investigations. He has been instructed by the FCA as junior and disclosure counsel in complex prosecutions. He has gained experience of investigations through his work with the Enforcement Decision Making Committee of the Bank of England and the Fraud Investigation Service of HMRC. He has been led by senior members of Chambers in defending private prosecutions for fraud and in confiscation proceedings. He has defended individuals facing allegations of civil contempt in the High Court for breach of freezing injunctions. He is panel counsel for the SFO. Alongside his business crime practice, Christopher offers extensive experience and expertise in the practice area of professional discipline and regulation. He is frequently instructed by the GDC to present the case in substantive, interim, and High Court matters. He is regularly...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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