Finance Act 1994

14 Requirement for review of a decision

(1) This section applies to the following decisions, not being decisions under this section or section 15 below, that is to say—

(a) any decision by the Commissioners, in relation to any customs duty or to any agricultural levy of the European Community, as to—

(i) whether or not, and at what time, anything is charged in any case with any such duty or levy;

(ii) the rate at which any such duty or levy is charged in any case, or the amount charged;

(iii) the person liable in any case to pay any amount charged, or the amount of his liability; or

(iv) whether or not any person is entitled in any case to relief or to any repayment, remission or drawback of any such duty or levy, or the amount of the relief, repayment, remission or drawback to which any person is entitled;

(b) so much of any decision by the Commissioners that a person is liable to any duty of excise, or as to the amount of his liability, as is contained in any assessment under section 12 above;

(c) so much of any decision by the Commissioners that a person is liable to any penalty under any of the provisions of this Chapter, or as to the amount of his liability, as is contained in any assessment under section 13 above; and

(d) any decision by the Commissioners or any officer which is of a description specified in Schedule 5 to this Act.

(2) Any person who is—

(a) a person whose liability to pay any relevant duty or penalty is determined by, results from or is or will be affected by any decision to which this section applies,

(b) a person in relation to whom, or on whose application, such a decision has been made, or

(c) a person on or to whom the conditions, limitations, restrictions, prohibitions or other requirements to which such a decision relates are or are to be imposed or applied,

may by notice in writing to the Commissioners require them to review that decision.

(3) The Commissioners shall not be required under this section to review any decision unless the notice requiring the review is given before the end of the period of forty-five days beginning with the day on which written notification of the decision, or of the assessment containing the decision, was first given to the person requiring the review.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3) above it shall be the duty of the Commissioners to give written notification of any decision to which this section applies to any person who—

(a) requests such a notification;

(b) has not previously been given written notification of that decision; and

(c) if given such a notification, will be entitled to require a review of the decision under this section.

(5) A person shall be entitled to give a notice under this section requiring a decision to be reviewed for a second or subsequent time only if—

(a) the grounds on which he requires the further review are that the Commissioners did not, on any previous review, have the opportunity to consider certain facts or other matters; and

(b) he does not, on the further review, require the Commissioners to consider any facts or matters which were considered on a previous review except in so far as they are relevant to any issue to which the facts or matters not previously considered relate.

(6) If it appears to the Commissioners that there is any description of decisions falling to be made for the purposes of any provision of—

(a) the Community Customs Code,

(b) any Community legislation made for the purpose of implementing that Code, or

(c) any enactment or subordinate legislation so made,

which are not decisions to which this section otherwise applies, the Commissioners may by regulations provide for this section to apply to decisions of that description as it applies to the decisions mentioned in subsection (1) above.

(7) The power to make regulations under subsection (6) above shall be exercisable by statutory instrument subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament and shall include power—

(a) to provide, in relation to any description of decisions to which this section is applied by any such regulations, that section 16(4) below shall have effect as if those decisions were of a description specified in Schedule 5 to this Act; and

(b) to make such other incidental, supplemental, consequential and transitional provision as the Commissioners think fit.