CRIMINAL OFFENCES
GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES
When an offender has committed a criminal offence the law of restitution may be relevant in two ways.[1] First, the offender may have received a benefit as a result of the commission of the crime, so the question for the law of restitution is whether there is a cause of action which will enable the victim or the State to recover the proceeds of the crime. Secondly, a consequence of the offender committing the crime may be that he or she is entitled to obtain a benefit, under a life assurance policy for example. Here, the question for the law of restitution is whether the offender can be prevented from obtaining this benefit. Whether the victim or the State can claim the proceeds of crime or the offender can obtain a benefit arising from the commission of the crime will depend upon the application of the same fundamental principle, namely that no wrongdoer should be allowed to profit from the commission of a wrong.[2] Since there is no clearer wrong than the commission of a criminal offence, the application of the ‘no profit principle’ means that, as a general rule, the victim of the crime or the State should recover the proceeds of the crime from the offender, and the offender should not be entitled to obtain a benefit which he or she would otherwise be able to claim as a result of the commission of the crime.
