61.—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, where a person is convicted of an offence, and—

(a) the court by or before which he is convicted is satisfied that any property which has been lawfully seized from him or which was in his possession or under his control at the time when he was apprehended for the offence or when a summons in respect of it was issued—

(i) has been used for the purpose of committing, or facilitating the commission of, any offence, or

(ii) was intended by him to be used for that purpose,

or

F101[(aa) in the case of a relevant offence, the court by or before which he or she is convicted is satisfied that any property—

(i) has been used for the purpose of committing, or facilitating the commission of, any offence, or

(ii) was intended by him or her to be used for that purpose, or]

(b) the offence, or an offence which the court has taken into consideration in determining his sentence, consists of unlawful possession of property which—

(i) has been lawfully seized from him, or

(ii) was in his possession or under his control at the time when he was apprehended for the offence of which he has been convicted or when a summons in respect of that offence was issued,

the court may make an order under this section (referred to in this Act as a “forfeiture order”) in respect of that property, and may do so whether or not it also deals with the offender in respect of the offence in any other way.

F102[(1A) Where—

(a) a person has been convicted of an offence under section 3 or 4 of the Explosive Substances Act, 1883, section 15 of the Firearms Act, 1925, F103[section 27A of the Firearms Act 1964 or section 6 of the Act of 2005], and

(b) a forfeiture order may be made in the case of that person by virtue of subsection (1) of this section in respect of property to which that subsection applies,

the court shall, subject to subsection (5) of this section, make the forfeiture order, unless, having regard to the matters mentioned in subsection (2) of this section and to the nature and degree of seriousness of the offence of which the person has been convicted, it is satisfied that there would be a serious risk of injustice if it made the order.]

(2) In considering whether to make a forfeiture order in respect of any property a court shall have regard—

(a) to the value of the property, and

(b) to the likely financial and other effects on the offender of the making of the order (taken together with any other order that the court contemplates making).

(3) Facilitating the commission of an offence shall be taken for the purposes of this section to include the taking of any steps after it has been committed for the purpose of disposing of any property to which the offence relates or of avoiding, or enabling any other person to avoid, apprehension or detection.

(4) An order under this section shall operate to deprive the offender of his rights, if any, in the property to which it relates, and the property shall (if not already in their possession) be taken into the possession of the Garda Síochána.

(5) A court shall not order property to be forfeited under this section if a person claiming to be the owner of it or otherwise interested in it applies to be heard by the court, unless an opportunity has been given to him to show cause why the order should not be made.

F102[(5A) A court may, in making a forfeiture order, include such provisions in that order, or, as the case may require, may make an order supplemental to that order that contains such provisions, as appear to it to be necessary to protect any interest in the property, the subject of the forfeiture order, of a person other than the offender.]

(6) An order under this section shall not take effect until the ordinary time for instituting an appeal against the conviction or order concerned has expired or, where such an appeal is instituted, until it or any further appeal is finally decided or abandoned or the ordinary time for instituting any further appeal has expired.

(7) The Police Property Act, 1897, shall apply, with the following modifications, to property which is in the possession of the Garda Síochána by virtue of this section, that is to say:

(a) no application shall be made under section 1 (1) of that Act by any claimant of the property after the expiration of 6 months from the date on which the order in respect of the property was made under this section, and

(b) no such application shall succeed unless the claimant satisfies the court either that he had not consented to the offender having possession of the property or that he did not know, and had no reason to suspect, that the property was likely to be used for a purpose mentioned in subsection (1) of this section.

(8) In relation to property which is in the possession of the Garda Síochána by virtue of this section, the power to make regulations under section 2 (1) of the Police Property Act, 1897 (disposal of property in cases where the owner of the property has not been ascertained etc.), shall include power to make regulations for disposal in cases where no application by a claimant of the property has been made within the period specified in subsection (7) (a) of this section or no such application has succeeded.

(9) Nothing in this section shall affect the provisions of any enactment whereby property is, or may be ordered to be, forfeited as a result of a conviction for an offence.