Backgrounder

August 16, 2007

The Civil Remedies Act enables the Attorney General to ask the court for a civil order forfeiting the proceeds or instruments of unlawful activity to the Crown.

A proceed is property or money acquired as a result of unlawful activity. An instrument is property that is likely to be used to engage in unlawful activity in the future. The law permits a civil court, at the request of the Attorney General, to freeze, take possession of and order the forfeiture to the Crown of property that is determined to be a proceed or an instrument of unlawful activity. Property includes all types of assets, such as real estate, cars and cash. Unlawful activity is not limited to activities covered by the Criminal Code; it could include contraventions of other federal and provincial laws.

Under the Civil Remedies Act, the court can grant an interim order to freeze property pending the outcome of the forfeiture proceeding. If government lawyers can prove that the property in question is a proceed or an instrument of unlawful activity, the court can issue orders forfeiting the property to the Crown. The act then enables victims of the unlawful activity that leads to forfeiture to submit a claim for compensation against the forfeited property.

The process for civil forfeiture under the Civil Remedies Act begins when a designated institution, such as a law enforcement agency or government ministry, submits a case to the reviewing authority, an independent Crown counsel in the Ministry of the Attorney General. That counsel decides whether the statutory criteria in the Civil Remedies Act have been met. Once that is confirmed, the case information is forwarded to the ministry's Civil Remedies for Illicit Activities (CRIA) Office, which is responsible for enforcing the act.

Civil forfeiture focuses solely on the connection between property and unlawful activity. It is not dependant on any criminal charges or convictions. The standard of proof required for civil forfeiture is the same as it is in all civil actions - a balance of probabilities.

Ontario's CRIA Office is recognized nationally and internationally for its precedent-setting work. Since November 2003, the province has obtained forfeitures totalling $3.6 million. The province currently has $11.5 million in property frozen under the act, pending completion of civil forfeiture proceedings.

Property at 51 Taylor Avenue, Chatham

This 12-unit apartment building is in a residential neighbourhood of Chatham. According to Chatham-Kent Police Service, 51 Taylor Avenue is a well known "drug house." Over the past five years alone there have been more than 300 police calls to the property. Twenty-one search warrants have been executed primarily at three of the apartments, resulting in 49 arrests and 119 charges.

The court has granted the Crown a preservation order, which prevents any sale or encumbrance of the building and allows the Crown to inspect and secure the property to discourage any future unlawful activity.

The Attorney General intends to seek the extension of the preservation order on the property and then bring proceedings to ask the court to forfeit the property to the Crown.

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