Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Confiscation order definition

What does Confiscation order mean? An order made in criminal proceedings requiring a convicted defendant to pay the state a sum representing the proceeds (benefit) of their criminal conduct, up to the value of assets available to them. It does not usually seize specific items; instead it creates a recoverable monetary judgment. In England and Wales and Northern Ireland, confiscation orders are governed by the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) (Parts 2 and 4). In Scotland, equivalent orders are made under POCA Part 3. In Ireland, post‑conviction confiscation is provided for by the Criminal Justice Act 1994 (as amended). Across these jurisdictions the court assesses...

Confiscation postponement: two-year limit, extensions, appeals, costs, and managing procedural defects and exceptional circumstances (England and Wales)

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Practice notes

Postponement and sentence

As a rule, the court ought to make a Confiscation order before passing sentence. Where confiscation has not finished by sentencing, the process may begin and be deferred so it concludes afterwards. That starting point and any postponement must occur within 56 days of sentence being imposed (i.e. the window in which a sentence may be varied or rescinded under section 385 of the Sentencing Act 2020 (SA 2020)—the ‘slip rule’).

The court may defer confiscation for a stated period of up to two years from the conviction date (the permitted period). If there are multiple offences, the conviction date is the most recent date on which the Defendant was convicted. The postponement period itself can be extended, but any extension must take effect within the two-year permitted period, unless exceptional circumstances are found.

In R v Haden, the Court of Appeal determined that where exceptional circumstances exist, the period may be extended even after the two-year permitted period has expired, whether an Application was made before or after expiry, or where none was made. The permitted period is...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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