Civil recovery
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
In the legal systems of the constituent countries of the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, civil recovery (also named civil recovery scheme or civil recovery regime) is claimed by retailers to (a) enable the retailer's claims handling agent to recover, in civil proceeding
Civil law (common law)
Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...
s before the High Court
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
or Court of Session
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland, and constitutes part of the College of Justice. It sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh and is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal....
, property
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
which is, or represents, property (including intellectual property) obtained through unlawful conduct, and (b) enable cash
Cash
In common language cash refers to money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins.In bookkeeping and finance, cash refers to current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-immediately...
which is, or represents, property obtained through unlawful conduct, or which is intended to be used in unlawful conduct, to be forfeit
Asset forfeiture
Asset forfeiture is confiscation, by the State, of assets which are either the alleged proceeds of crime or the alleged instrumentalities of crime, and more recently, alleged terrorism. Instrumentalities of crime are property that was allegedly used to facilitate crime, for example cars...
ed in civil proceedings before a county court
County Court
A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of county courts held by the High Sheriff of each county.-England and Wales:County Court matters can be lodged...
or (in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
) the sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
. Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provides for the confiscation or civil recovery of the proceeds from crime and contains the principal money laundering legislation in the UK.-Background:...
(2002 c. 29 s 240 et seq.). However the Citizen's Advice Bureau advises that in many cases, the process "may constitute ‘deceitful’, ‘unfair’ and ‘improper’ business practice, as defined by the OFT" (http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/pressoffice/press_index/press_20090812.htm)
United States
In the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, civil recovery laws allow store and retailers to prosecute alleged shoplifters in civil court. All 50 states have some form of civil recovery law. In some jurisdictions, both a civil recovery demand and a ticket or arrest for "stealing" is initiated by the retailer.
Further reading
- Zimmerman, Ann The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, February 20, 2008 A1 "Big retail chains dun mere suspects in theft" http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120347031996578719.html?mod=rss_law_page - Landro, Laura The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
September 20, 2007 A1 "The Accidental Thief" http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119024912866933218.html