Margot Serra and 5 others (Appellants) v His Majesty’s Attorney General for Gibraltar (Respondent)

Case summary

Case ID

JCPC/2024/0086

Jurisdiction

Gibraltar

Parties

Appellant(s)

Margot Serra and 5 others

Respondent(s)

His Majesty’s Attorney General for Gibraltar

Issue

Whether the first instance judge erred in his application of the law as to whether assets were recoverable as property obtained through unlawful conduct.

Facts

This appeal arises from a recovery order made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2015 (“POCA”). Part V of POCA provides a means for the Attorney General of Gibraltar (the “AG”) to use civil (i.e. non-criminal) proceedings to recover property that has been obtained through unlawful conduct. The AG successfully brought such proceedings against the Appellants, and the court made the recovery order as a result. That order was the culmination of an investigation by the authorities in Gibraltar (in co-operation with the Spanish authorities) into the activities of Mr Clint Serra, to whom all the other Appellants are related or connected. Under a European Arrest Warrant issued in September 2019, Mr Serra was accused of having imported large quantities of drugs into Spain, and identified as the leader of a criminal group. For the purposes of the claim to recover property under Part V of POCA, the judge was satisfied (on the balance of probabilities) that Mr Serra had been involved in drug trafficking. Various assets were identified as being ultimately owned by Mr Serra and as being or representing – in the judge’s view – property obtained through unlawful conduct. These assets were made the subject of the recovery order. Mr Serra appealed against the order on the basis that the judge erred in how he applied the law to the evidence in the case. In particular, he argued that the judge made unsupported assumptions about the involvement of Mr Serra in drug trafficking prior to the period dealt with by the relevant evidence. The Court of Appeal of Gibraltar dismissed the appeal. Mr Serra now appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Ex-tempore judgment was given in the hearing today dismissing the appeal. The judgment can be viewed on the video of the hearing and will be published in due course.

Date of issue

1 November 2024

Appeal

Justices

Lord Lloyd-Jones

Lady Simler

Lord Snowden

Hearing dates

Start date

15 July 2026

End date

15 July 2026

Watch hearings

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