Customs Act 2015 section 18

Notice of seizure

Section 18 sets out the obligation on customs officers to notify owners when goods are seized, the circumstances in which notice is not required, and the permitted methods of delivering that notice.

• When goods are seized as liable to forfeiture, the customs officer must notify the person they believe owned the goods at the time of seizure, stating the grounds for the seizure.
• No notice is required if the seizure took place in the presence of the person whose offence or suspected offence led to it, or in the presence of the master or pilot-in-command of a vessel or aircraft.
• The notice must be in writing and may be delivered personally, sent by post to the person's usual or last known home or business address (or a company's registered or principal office), or published in the Iris Oifigiúil if the person has no known address in the State.
• A notice delivered by any of these methods is deemed to have been duly given to the person concerned.