Using a house to kill

Legal historians and those with an interest in confiscation law are familiar with the deodand - The principle of forfeiting the instrument of a murder to the State. The modern successor to the deodand in Victoria is the definition of 'tainted property' in section 3(1) of the Confiscation Act 1997, which includes property that:

(a)  was used, or was intended by the accused to be used in, or in connection with, the commission of the offence

In one of the flurry of decisions from the Court of Appeal last week, the court considered when house in which a murder was committed would be caught under this definition.

Confiscation and human rights

While Victoria waits with general indifference for the commencement of the Confiscation Act 2010 (some time before January 2012), the Supreme Court has handed down DPP v Ali (No 2) [2010] VSC 503, concerning the operation of the current scheme and the effect of the Charter. Section 38 of the Confiscation Act 1997 allows the DPP to seek confiscation of restrained property if-