Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022
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Provisions relating to prosecutions | ||
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18. (1) Summary proceedings for an offence under section 17 may be brought at the suit of the Minister for Social Protection. | ||
(2) An officer of the Minister for Social Protection shall not institute any summary proceedings for an offence under section 17 at the suit of the Minister for Social Protection unless the officer is authorised in that behalf by special or general directions of the Minister for Social Protection or the Minister for Social Protection has consented to the initiation of those proceedings. | ||
(3) Notwithstanding any provision in any enactment specifying the period within which proceedings may be commenced, summary proceedings for an offence under section 17 may be brought at any time within whichever of the following periods later expires— | ||
(a) 2 years commencing on the date on which the offence was alleged to have been committed, or | ||
(b) 18 months commencing on the date on which evidence sufficient to justify the institution of the prosecution came into the possession of the Minister for Social Protection. | ||
(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), a certificate, sealed with the official seal of the Minister for Social Protection, as to the date on which the evidence referred to in that subsection came into his or her possession shall be sufficient evidence thereof until the contrary is shown. | ||
(5) Where in a prosecution for an offence under section 17 it is shown to the satisfaction of the court— | ||
(a) that an application has been made by a person (in this section referred to as “the defendant”) under section 7 , and | ||
(b) that as a result of that application a financial contribution has been paid to any person (whether or not the financial contribution was paid to the defendant), | ||
the defendant shall be presumed to have given any information contained in the application (or to have caused it to be given on his or her behalf) and, where the information is false, with full knowledge of its falsity and with intent that it should deceive; but this presumption may be rebutted. | ||
(6) (a) For the purpose of the institution of proceedings under this Part a certificate, purporting to be given by an officer of the Minister for Social Protection authorised in that behalf by the Minister for Social Protection and to be signed by that officer, certifying the facts set out in paragraph (b), shall be sufficient evidence in any legal proceedings of the matters certified in the certificate, until the contrary is shown. | ||
(b) The facts referred to in paragraph (a) are that a person is an officer of the Minister for Social Protection and that he or she has been authorised under a special or general direction of the Minister for Social Protection to institute the proceedings, or that the Minister for Social Protection has consented to the institution of those proceedings. |