C1Part 2 Powers of seizure
Construction of Part 2
66 General interpretation of Part 2
1
In this Part—
“appropriate judicial authority” has the meaning given by section 64;
“documents” includes information recorded in any form;
“item subject to legal privilege” shall be construed in accordance with section 65;
“premises” includes any vehicle, stall or moveable structure (including an offshore installation) and any other place whatever, whether or not occupied as land;
“offshore installation” has the same meaning as in the Mineral Workings (Offshore Installations) Act 1971 (c. 61);
“return”, in relation to seized property, shall be construed in accordance with section 58, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;
“seize”, and cognate expressions, shall be construed in accordance with section 63(1) and subsection (5) below;
“seized property”, in relation to any exercise of a power of seizure, means (subject to subsection (5)) anything seized in exercise of that power; and
“vehicle” includes any vessel, aircraft or hovercraft.
2
In this Part references, in relation to a time when seized property is in any person’s possession in consequence of a seizure (“the relevant time”), to something for which the person making the seizure had power to search shall be construed—
a
where the seizure was made on the occasion of a search carried out on the authority of a warrant, as including anything of the description of things the presence or suspected presence of which provided grounds for the issue of the warrant;
b
where the property was seized in the course of a search on the occasion of which it would have been lawful for the person carrying out the search to seize anything which on that occasion was believed by him to be, or appeared to him to be, of a particular description, as including—
i
anything which at the relevant time is believed by the person in possession of the seized property, or (as the case may be) appears to him, to be of that description; and
ii
anything which is in fact of that description;
c
where the property was seized in the course of a search on the occasion of which it would have been lawful for the person carrying out the search to seize anything which there were on that occasion reasonable grounds for believing was of a particular description, as including—
i
anything which there are at the relevant time reasonable grounds for believing is of that description; and
ii
anything which is in fact of that description;
d
where the property was seized in the course of a search to which neither paragraph (b) nor paragraph (c) applies, as including anything which is of a description of things which, on the occasion of the search, it would have been lawful for the person carrying it out to seize otherwise than under section 50 and 51; and
e
where the property was seized on the occasion of a search authorised under section 82 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (c. 11) (seizure of items suspected to have been, or to be intended to be, used in commission of certain offences), as including anything—
i
which is or has been, or is or was intended to be, used in the commission of an offence such as is mentioned in subsection (3)(a) or (b) of that section; or
ii
which at the relevant time the person who is in possession of the seized property reasonably suspects is something falling within sub-paragraph (i).
3
For the purpose of determining in accordance with subsection (2), in relation to any time, whether or to what extent property seized on the occasion of a search authorised under section 9 of the Official Secrets Act 1911 (c. 28) (seizure of evidence of offences under that Act having been or being about to be committed) is something for which the person making the seizure had power to search, subsection (1) of that section shall be construed—
a
as if the reference in that subsection to evidence of an offence under that Act being about to be committed were a reference to evidence of such an offence having been, at the time of the seizure, about to be committed; and
b
as if the reference in that subsection to reasonable ground for suspecting that such an offence is about to be committed were a reference to reasonable ground for suspecting that at the time of the seizure such an offence was about to be committed.
4
References in subsection (2) to a search include references to any activities authorised by virtue of any of the following—
a
section 28(1) of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 (c. 29) (power to enter premises and to inspect and seize goods and documents);
b
section 29(1) of the Fair Trading Act 1973 (c. 41) (power to enter premises and to inspect and seize goods and documents);
c
paragraph 9 of the Schedule to the Prices Act 1974 (c. 24) (powers of entry and inspection);
d
section 162(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (c. 39) (powers of entry and inspection);
e
section 11(1) of the Estate Agents Act 1979 (c. 38) (powers of entry and inspection);
f
Schedule 9 to the Weights and Measures (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (S.I. 1981 231 (N.I. 10));
g
section 79 of, or Schedule 8 to, the Weights and Measures Act 1985 (c. 72) (powers of entry and inspection etc.);
h
section 29 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (c. 43) (powers of search etc.);
i
Article 22 of the Consumer Protection (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 (S.I. 1987 2049 (N.I. 20));
j
section 32(5) of the Food Safety Act 1990 (c. 16) (power to inspect records relating to a food business);
k
paragraph 3 of the Schedule to the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991 (c. 29) (powers of seizure etc.);
l
Article 33(6) of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (S.I. 1991 762 (N.I. 7));
m
paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 to the Timeshare Act 1992 (c. 35) (powers of officers of enforcement authority).
F1n
paragraph 2 of Schedule 5 to the Human Tissue Act 2004 (entry and inspection of licensed premises).
F2o
regulation 22 of the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (powers of entry and search etc)
5
References in this Part to a power of seizure include references to each of the powers to take possession of items under—
F3a
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
b
section 448(3) of the Companies Act 1985 (c. 6);
F3c
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
d
Article 441(3) of the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 (S.I. 1986 1032 (N.I. 6));
F3e
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
f
section 2(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 (c. 38);
g
section 40(2) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (c. 37);
h
section 28(2)(c) of the Competition Act 1998 (c. 41); and
i
section 176(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (c. 8);
and references in this Part to seizure and to seized property shall be construed accordingly.
6
In this Part, so far as it applies to England and Wales—
a
references to excluded material shall be construed in accordance with section 11 of the 1984 Act (meaning of “excluded material”); and
b
references to special procedure material shall be construed in accordance with section 14 of that Act (meaning of “special procedure material”).
7
In this Part, so far as it applies to Northern Ireland—
a
references to excluded material shall be construed in accordance with Article 13 of the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989 1341 (N.I. 12)) (meaning of “excluded material”); and
b
references to special procedure material shall be construed in accordance with Article 16 of that Order (meaning of “special procedure material”).
8
References in this Part to any item or material being comprised in other property include references to its being mixed with that other property.
9
In this Part “enactment” includes an enactment contained in Northern Ireland legislation.
Pt. 2 extended (2.12.2002) by Police Reform Act 2002 (c. 30), s. 38, Sch. 4 para. 24(a); S.I. 2002/2750, art. 2
Pt. 2 extended (N.I.) (8.4.2003) by Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2003 (c. 6), ss. 30, 31, Sch. 2 Pt. 1 para. 10(1)(a)