Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011

This section has no associated Explanatory Notes

13.—(1) Paragraph 11(2)(j) does not include power to seize an item which the person exercising the power has reasonable grounds for believing to be subject to legal privilege (within the meaning of Article 12 of the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (NI 12)).

(2) A person who seizes anything in exercise of the power under paragraph 11(2)(j) shall on request provide a record of the thing seized to a person showing himself or herself—

(a)to be the occupier of premises on which it was seized; or

(b)to have had possession or control of it immediately before its seizure.

(3) Subject to sub-paragraph (4), anything which has been seized in the exercise of a power under paragraph 11(2)(j) may be retained so long as is necessary in all the circumstances and in particular—

(a)for use as evidence at a trial for a relevant offence; or

(b)for forensic examination or for investigation in connection with a relevant offence.

(4) Nothing may be retained for either of the purposes mentioned in sub-paragraph (3) if a photograph or a copy would be sufficient for that purpose.