Chapter 4
Cooperation with and assistence to Court in or outside South Africa

Part 2
Judicial assistance to court (ss 14-32)

27 Registration of confiscation order

(1) When the Central Authority receives a request for assistance in executing a confiscation order in the Republic made by the Court, it must submit that request to the Cabinet member responsible for the administration of justice for approval, if the Central Authority is satisfied that the-

(a) order is final and not subject to review or appeal;

(b) person against whom the order was made had the opportunity of defending himself or herself;

(c) order cannot be satisfied in full except by confiscating and realising property;

(d) order is enforceable by the Court;

(e) person concerned holds property in the Republic; and

(f) request is supported by the following:

(i) A concise statement of the purpose of the request, including the legal basis and the grounds for the request;

(ii) as much information as possible about the location or identification of the property in question;

(iii) a concise statement of the essential facts underlying the request;

(iv) the reasons for and details of any procedure or requirement to be followed;

(v) any other information that is available and may be relevant in the circumstances.

(2) Upon receiving the approval of the Cabinet member responsible for the administration of justice of the request contemplated in subsection (1), the Central Authority must lodge with the clerk or registrar, as the case may be, of a court in the Republic having jurisdiction, a certified copy of such confiscation order.

(3) When a certified copy of a confiscation order is lodged with a clerk or registrar of a court, that clerk or registrar must, in the prescribed manner, register the confiscation order where the order was for the-

(a) payment of money in respect of the balance of the amount payable thereunder; or

(b) recovery of particular property in respect of the property which is specified therein.

(4) The clerk or registrar of the court registering a confiscation order must immediately issue a notice in writing, addressed to the person against whom the order has been made, to the effect that the-

(a) order has been registered at the court concerned; and

(b) said person may, within the prescribed period and in the prescribed manner, apply to that court for the setting aside of the registration of the order.

(5) (a) Where the person against whom the confiscation order has been made is present in the Republic, the notice contemplated in subsection (4) must be served on such person in the prescribed manner.

(b) Where the said person is not present in the Republic, he or she must be informed of the registration of the confiscation order in the prescribed manner.

28 Effect of registration of confiscation order

(1) When any confiscation order has been registered in terms of section 27, such order has the effect of a civil judgment of the court at which it has been registered in favour of the Republic, as represented by the Cabinet member responsible for the administration of justice.

(2) A confiscation order registered in terms of section 27 may not be executed before the expiry of the period within which an application in terms of section 27 (4) (b) for the setting aside of the registration may be made, or, if such application has been made, before the application has been finally decided.

(3) The Central Authority must, subject to any agreement or arrangement between the Court and the Republic, pay over to the Court any amount recovered in terms of a confiscation order registered in terms of section 27, less all expenses incurred in connection with the execution of such order.

29 Setting aside of registration of confiscation order

(1) On the application of any person against whom the registration of a confiscation order in terms of section 27 has been made, such registration may be set aside if the court at which it was registered is satisfied that the-

(a) order was registered contrary to a provision of this Act;

(b) order is subject to review or appeal;

(c) person against whom the order was made, through no fault on his or her part, did not appear at the proceedings concerned or did not receive notice of the said proceedings as prescribed by the Statute or Rules or, if no such notice has been prescribed, that he or she did not receive reasonable notice of such proceedings so as to enable him or her to defend himself or herself at the proceedings; or

(d) order has already been satisfied.

(2) The court hearing an application referred to in subsection (1) may at any time postpone the hearing of the application to such date as it may determine.