Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007

27 Examination of documents

(1) A member of Her Majesty’s forces who performs a search under sections 24 to 26—

(a) may examine any document or record found in order to ascertain whether it contains information of the kind mentioned in section 58(1)(a) of the Terrorism Act 2000 (c. 11) (information likely to be useful for terrorism), and

(b) if necessary or expedient for the purpose of paragraph (a), may remove the document or record to another place and retain it there until the examination is completed.

(2) Subsection (1) does not permit a person to examine a document or record if he has reasonable cause to believe that it is an item subject to legal privilege (within the meaning of the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/1341 (N.I. 12))).

(3) A document or record may not be retained by virtue of subsection (1)(b) for more than 48 hours.

(4) A person who wilfully obstructs a member of Her Majesty’s forces in the exercise of a power conferred by this section commits an offence.

(5) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4) shall be liable—

(a) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, to a fine or to both, or

(b) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to both.