Ireland, the European Union and the World of the Criminal Assets Bureau places a significant and precarious amount of trust in An Garda Siochana. Bringing this system to the US would do little to change the overall effectiveness and judiciousness of civil forfeiture, as American law enforcement agencies have shown little interest in effectively self-regulating. If anything, a police-run oversight board could act as a bureaucratic obstruction to greater civil forfeiture reform, especially at the federal level. And, even if states were to introduce their own individual boards or bureaus, the ‘equitable sharing’ loophole mentioned earlier would allow individual law enforcement agencies to circumvent these restrictions thanks to federal intervention. Solutions to the significant issues with civil forfeiture in the United States are necessary, but they cannot come from within law enforcement agencies themselves. Applying the Irish system against American policing reveals the plastered-over cracks inherent in the Criminal Assets Bureau. Despite the plaudits it has received, the fairness of the CAB is directly tethered to the ethicality of those who control its use. While this has not yet posed significant issues in Ireland, the potential it provides for abuse undermines its use by other states, particularly America, as a “model” example of civil forfeiture. Conclusion Civil forfeiture, by its very nature, is a sweeping and potentially dangerous tool. Despite what proponents of the Irish model may argue, there is no way for the practice to be effectively employed without aspects of it being left open to manipulation. The paperthin divider separating the Irish model from a far more dysfunctional one is its (relatively) healthy culture of policing, rather than its regulatory oversight. A significant overhaul of the American approach to law enforcement would be necessary before the Irish model would be effective. While the Irish approach to civil forfeiture should be lightly praised, especially for its post-conviction approach, the weaknesses inherent in its regulation mean that it should not be used as a model for reform.
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