The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Quota and Third Country Fishing Measures) (Scotland) Order 2000

Powers of British sea-fishery officers on land

8.—(1) For the purpose of enforcing the provisions of article 4(1) or (2), or any provision extending to any other part of the United Kingdom made for the purposes of implementing a Community quota measure or Community third country fishing measure, any British sea-fishery officer may–

(a) enter and inspect at any reasonable time any premises used for carrying on any business in connection with the operation of fishing boats or activities connected therewith or ancillary thereto or with the treatment, storage or sale of fishery products;

(b) take with him such other persons as appear to him to be necessary and any equipment or materials;

(c) examine any fishery product on the premises and require persons on the premises to do anything which appears to him to be necessary for facilitating the examination;

(d) carry out at such premises such other inspections or tests as may reasonably be necessary;

(e) require any person not to remove or cause to be removed any fishery product from such premises for such a period as may be reasonably necessary for the purposes of establishing whether a relevant offence has at any time been committed;

(f) require any person on the premises to produce any documents which are in his custody or possession relating to the catching, landing, transportation, transhipment, sale or disposal of any fishery product;

(g) for the purpose of ascertaining whether any person on the premises has committed a relevant offence, search the premises for any such document and may require any person on the premises to do anything which appears to him to be necessary for facilitating the search;

(h) inspect and take copies of any such document produced to him or found on the premises;

(i) require any appropriate or responsible person to render any such documents on a computer system into a visible and legible form and to produce them in a form in which they may be taken away; and

(j) if he has reason to suspect that a relevant offence has been committed, seize and detain any such document produced to him or found on the premises for the purposes of enabling the document to be used as evidence in proceedings for the offence.

(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) above shall apply in relation to any land used in connection with any of the activities described in paragraph (1) above, or in respect of any vehicle which a British sea-fishery officer has reasonable cause to believe is being used to transport fisheries products, as they apply in relation to premises and, in the case of a vehicle, shall include power to require the vehicle to stop at any time and, if necessary, direct the vehicle to some other place to facilitate inspection.

(3) If a Sheriff on information on oath–

(a) is satisfied that there is reasonable ground to believe that any documents or other items which a British sea-fishery officer has power under this article to inspect are on any premises and that their inspection is likely to disclose evidence of the commission of a relevant offence; and

(b) is also satisfied either–

(i) that admission to the premises has been or is likely to be refused and that notice of intention to apply for a warrant has been given to the occupier; or

(ii) that an application for admission or the giving of such notice would defeat the object of the entry or that the premises are unoccupied or that the occupier is temporarily absent and it might defeat the object of the entry to await his return;

the Sheriff may by warrant signed by him, and valid for one month, authorise a British sea fishery officer to enter the premises, if need be by reasonable force, accompanied by such persons as appear to the officer to be necessary.