S.I. No. 540/2017 gives effect to Directive 2014/42/EU by amending the Criminal Justice Act 1994 to provide for freezing and confiscation of instrumentalities and proceeds of crime. It inserts sections 8F–8J and Schedule 1A, defines “relevant offence” and “economic advantage”, and extends confiscation to benefits derived directly or indirectly (including by reinvestment or transformation). The Act applies a civil standard of proof and prescribes statutory assumptions for valuing proceeds.

The Regulations empower the Director of Public Prosecutions to seek determinations, create reassessment and revision procedures with six‑year limits, allow High Court intervention where prosecutions are discontinued, and address gifts/transfers intended to defeat confiscation. Related provisions across the Principal Act are amended and a saver clause preserves the position of pending proceedings.