Section 176: Entry of premises under warrant
342.An investigator appointed by the Authority or the Secretary of State may obtain a warrant for entry to any premises from a justice of the peace, or in Scotland from a justice of the peace or a sheriff. Such a warrant can then be executed by a police constable (subsection (5) sets out what the constable may do in the exercise of the warrant).
343.To issue the warrant the justice of the peace or sheriff must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing:
a request for information under this Part has not been wholly complied with, and that the documents or information may be found on the premises concerned; or
the premises are the business premises of an authorised person or appointed representative, that information or documents on those premises could be required by the Authority or the investigator, but that a request for that information or those documents would not be complied with, or would result in the information or documents being removed, tampered with or destroyed; or
a serious offence has or is in the process of being committed, and that there is information or are documents on those premises which are relevant to that offence, which could be required by the Authority or the investigator, but which would not be produced, or which might be removed, tampered with or destroyed.
344.Subsections (6) and (7) apply to these warrants certain safeguards and other protections that apply to warrants issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the equivalent order in Northern Ireland. This includes giving the constable the right to employ reasonable force to gain entry.
345.Subsection (8) provides for documents seized under a warrant to be held for up to 3 months, or for longer if relevant proceedings are instituted during that period.
