A car seized by the Customs Department 33 years ago is to be released and given back to its owner.

Mr Justice Raymond C Pace, in a judgement delivered this morning, ordered the Controller of Customs to release the Mercedes, imported by Paul Smith in 1974 for use by his mother.

The car was seized in January 1976 on grounds that there were some suspicions about it. These had not been proven and the Customs Department then seized the car on the basis customs regulations were being violated.

But these regulations had been declared null and void in 1988 by the Constitutional Court as they allowed confiscation of objects without the necessity of judicial proceedings. As a result, the seizure of the car was also null and void.

However, it had remained in the possession of the Customs Department until in 2007 when the Department issued a seizure order on the basis of a violation of customs regulations.

Mr Smith contested this order.

The court noted that the seizure order could not be issued and legal action by the department could only have been taken within 10 years of its importation.

The court therefore found in favour of Mr Smith and ordered the Controller of Customs to immediately grant him possession of the car.