Higher Education and Research Act 2017

Inspecting, copying, seizing and retaining items

6 (1) The powers conferred by a search warrant to inspect, copy, seize and retain items found on premises include—

(a) power to require a person on the premises who is holding or accountable for items that are on the premises to produce them,

(b) power to require a person on the premises to provide an explanation of an item or state where an item may be found,

(c) in relation to documents kept by means of a computer, power to require them to be produced in a form in which they are legible and can be taken away, and

(d) power to require a person on the premises to provide such other assistance as the authorised person may reasonably require.

(2) Those powers also include—

(a) power to check the operation of a computer or electronic storage device, and

(b) power to require a person within sub-paragraph (3) to provide the authorised person with such reasonable assistance as the authorised person may require for that purpose.

(3) A person is within this sub-paragraph if the person is—

(a) a person by whom or on whose behalf the computer or device is or has been used, or

(b) a person having charge of, or otherwise concerned with the operation of, the computer or device.

(4) The power conferred by a search warrant to inspect, copy, seize and retain items does not include power to inspect, copy, seize or retain excluded items.

(5) “Excluded items” means items that are—

(a) items subject to legal privilege (as defined in section 10 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984);

(b) excluded material (as defined in section 11 of that Act);

(c) special procedure material (as defined in section 14 of that Act).

(6) If an item is seized from premises in the exercise of powers conferred by a search warrant, the authorised person executing the warrant—

(a) must make reasonable efforts to give a notice to a person who appears to be the occupier of the premises or otherwise to be in charge of the premises (an “affected person”), and

(b) if it is not reasonably practicable to do so, must leave a copy of the notice in a prominent place on the premises.

(7) A notice under sub-paragraph (6) must—

(a) state what has been seized and the reason for its seizure, and

(b) specify which registration condition or funding condition the authorised person believes has been breached.

(8) An authorised person exercising powers under a search warrant must—

(a) make a record of items seized from premises in the exercise of the powers, and

(b) if a person who appears to the authorised person to be an affected person in relation to the premises asks for a copy of that record, provide a copy of that record to that person within a reasonable time.

(9) An item which is seized in the exercise of powers under a search warrant may be retained as long as is necessary in all the circumstances, including for use as evidence on a prosecution for an offence.

(10) An item may not be retained for use as evidence on a prosecution for an offence if a photograph or a copy would be sufficient for that purpose.

(11) Nothing in this paragraph confers power to search a person.