(1)This section applies while any cash is detained under section 295.
(2)A magistrates’ court or (in Scotland) the sheriff may direct the release of the whole or any part of the cash if the following condition is met.
(3)The condition is that the court or sheriff is satisfied, on an application by the person from whom the cash was seized, that the conditions in section 295 for the detention of the cash are no longer met in relation to the cash to be released.
(4) An officer of Revenue and Customs , constable , SFO officer or accredited financial investigator or (in Scotland) procurator fiscal may, after notifying the magistrates’ court, sheriff or justice under whose order cash is being detained, release the whole or any part of it if satisfied that the detention of the cash to be released is no longer justified.
Cases considering section 297 13
[2017] EWCA Civ 1161 · 28 July 2017Interprets
The court distinguished release proceedings under section 297 from forfeiture proceedings and agreed that the section 297 inquiry concerns whether the section 295 conditions continue to be met (see paras [7], [16]).
The court accepted that in section 297(1) proceedings the court considers only whether the section 295 detention conditions continue to be met (see para [16]).
Cited only.
Cited only.
[2025] EWHC 3474 (Admin) · 19 December 2025Interprets
Section 297(1) identifies the statutory context in which detained cash may be released. The judgment confirms that a section 297 order can be made while cash remains detained, including during the initial detention period. (see paras [13]; [21]-[27])
The judgment interprets section 297(2) as conferring the power to direct release of detained cash when the section 295 detention conditions are no longer met. It was the power necessarily invoked by the oral request for immediate release and exercised by the Magistrates. (see paras [13]; [76]-[81])
The judgment holds that an application under section 297(3) may be inferred from a request for immediate release where the circumstances show that the applicant was seeking the statutory release power. The absence of an express citation to section 297 did not prevent a valid application. (see paras [76]-[80])
[2017] EWHC 747 (Admin) · 11 April 2017Interprets
The jurisdiction is limited to deciding whether the detention conditions are no longer met when the application is heard. It does not provide a review of whether the original detention order was lawful (see para [96]).
What each judgment says about section 297 is in the case-law panel in the full Act.
412.Section 297 envisages two situations in which cash or any part of the cash may be released to the person from whom it was seized. Firstly, the magistrates’ court (or a sheriff in Scotland) may do so in response to an application by the person from whom the cash was seized on the grounds that it is not recoverable property and is not intended for use in unlawful conduct. The fact that only the person from whom the money is seized may apply to the court is intended to prevent the magistrates’ court from becoming embroiled in a dispute between the person from whom the cash was seized and the rightful owner of the cash. Secondly, a customs officer, a constable or (in Scotland) a procurator fiscal, may release cash or any part of it after notifying the justice, magistrates’ court or sheriff if satisfied that the detention can no longer be justified.