- (b) a certificate that is signed by an officer of the Minister and stating that, to the best of the officer’s knowledge and belief, the person has not ceased to be an Irish citizen,
shall be evidence that the person was an Irish citizen on the date on which the offence concerned is alleged to have been committed, unless the contrary is shown.
(2) A document purporting to be a certificate referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) is deemed, unless the contrary is shown—
- (a) to be such a certificate, and
- (b) to have been signed by the person purporting to have signed it.
Seizure of suspected bribe
20. (1) Subject to subsection (2), a member of the Garda Síochána may seize and detain land, cash or other property that the member has reasonable grounds for suspecting is a gift or consideration used or intended to be used for the purposes of an offence under section 5, 6, 7 or 8 (in this Act referred to as “seized property”).
(2) Seized property shall not be detained for more than 72 hours unless its detention for a further period is authorised by an order under subsection (3).
(3) Subject to subsections (4) and (7), a judge of the Circuit Court may, upon application in that behalf, order the continued detention of seized property (including seized property detained pursuant to a previous order under this subsection) for a further period specified in the order, not exceeding 3 months from the date of the order, where he or she is satisfied that—
- (a) there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the seized property is a gift or consideration used or intended to be used for the purposes of an offence under section 5, 6, 7 or 8,
- (b) one or more of the following applies:
- (i) the origin or derivation of the seized property is being further investigated;
- (ii) an application in respect of the seized property under section 21 has been made but not finally determined;
- (iii) proceedings have been instituted or consideration is being given to instituting proceedings (whether in the State or elsewhere) against a person for an offence with which the seized property is connected,
- and
- (c) the further detention of the seized property is justified.
(4) Subject to subsection (5), orders under subsection (3) may not authorise the detention of seized property for periods that, in aggregate, exceed 2 years.
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