Crime and Courts Bill [HL]

Session 2012 - 13
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Other Bills before Parliament

Crime and Courts Bill [HL]

Crime and Courts Bill [HL]
Part 2 — Courts and Justice
27

51B
Powers of search, exclusion, removal and restraint
(1)
A Supreme Court security officer acting in the execution of the officer’s
duty may search—
(a)
any person who is in, or seeking to enter, a court building, and
(b)
any article in the possession of such a person.
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(2)
Subsection (1) does not authorise a Supreme Court security officer to
require a person to remove any of the person’s clothing other than a
coat, jacket, headgear, gloves or footwear.
(3)
A Supreme Court security officer acting in the execution of the officer’s
duty may exclude or remove from a court building, or a part of a court
10
building, any person who refuses—
(a)
to permit a search under subsection (1), or
(b)
to surrender an article in the person’s possession when asked to
do so under section 51C(1).
(4)
A Supreme Court security officer acting in the execution of the officer’s
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duty may—
(a)
restrain any person who is in a court building, or
(b)
exclude or remove any person from a court building, or a part
of a court building,

if it is reasonably necessary to do so for one of the purposes given in
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subsection (5).
(5)
The purposes are—
(a)
enabling business of the Supreme Court, or of the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council, to be carried on without
interference or delay;
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(b)
maintaining order;
(c)
securing the safety of any person in the court building.
(6)
A Supreme Court security officer acting in the execution of the officer’s
duty may remove any person from a courtroom at the request of—
(a)
a judge of the Supreme Court, or
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(b)
a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
(7)
The powers given by subsections (3), (4) and (6) include power to use
reasonable force, where necessary.
51C
Surrender, seizure and retention of knives and other articles
(1)
If a Supreme Court security officer acting in the execution of the
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officer’s duty reasonably believes that an article in the possession of a
person who is in, or seeking to enter, a court building ought to be
surrendered on any of the grounds given in subsection (2), the officer
must ask the person to surrender the article; and, if the person refuses
to surrender the article, the officer may seize it.
40
(2)
The grounds are that the article—
(a)
may jeopardise the maintenance of order in the court building
(or a part of it),
(b)
may put the safety of any person in the court building at risk, or
(c)
may be evidence of, or in relation to, an offence.
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Crime and Courts Bill [HL]
Part 2 — Courts and Justice
28

(3)
Subject to subsection (4), a Supreme Court security officer may retain
an article which was—
(a)
surrendered in response to a request under subsection (1), or
(b)
seized under that subsection,

until the time when the person who surrendered it, or from whom it
5
was seized, is leaving the court building.
(4)
If a Supreme Court security officer reasonably believes that the article
may be evidence of, or in relation to, an offence, the officer may retain
it until—
(a)
the time when the person who surrendered it, or from whom it
10
was seized, is leaving the court building, or
(b)
the end of the permitted period,

whichever is the later.
(5)
In subsection (4) “the permitted period” means such period, not
exceeding 24 hours from the time the article was surrendered or seized,
15
as will enable the Supreme Court security officer to draw the article to
the attention of a constable.
(6)
Subsections (3) to (5) do not apply where a knife is—
(a)
surrendered to a Supreme Court security officer in response to
a request under subsection (1), or
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(b)
seized by a Supreme Court security officer under that
subsection,

but, instead, the knife must be retained in accordance with regulations
under section 51D(3) unless returned or disposed of in accordance with
those regulations or regulations under section 51D(1).
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(7)
If a Supreme Court security officer reasonably believes that a retained
knife may be evidence of, or in relation to, an offence, nothing in
subsection (6) prevents the officer retaining the knife for so long as
necessary to enable the officer to draw it to the attention of a constable.
(8)
In this section “knife” includes—
30
(a)
a knife-blade, and
(b)
any other article which—
(i)
has a blade or is sharply pointed, and
(ii)
is made or adapted for use for causing injury to the
person.
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51D
Regulations about retention of knives and other articles
(1)
The Lord Chancellor may by regulations make provision as to—
(a)
the provision to persons—
(i)
by whom articles have been surrendered in response to
a request under subsection (1) of section 51C, or
40
(ii)
from whom articles have been seized under that
subsection,

of written information about the powers of retention of
Supreme Court security officers,
(b)
the keeping of records about articles which have been so
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surrendered or seized,
(c)
the period for which unclaimed articles have to be kept, and

Crime and Courts Bill [HL]
Part 2 — Courts and Justice
29

(d)
the disposal of unclaimed articles at the end of that period.
(2)
In subsection (1) “unclaimed article” means an article—
(a)
which has been retained under section 51C,
(b)
which a person is entitled to have returned,
(c)
which has not been returned, and
5
(d)
whose return has not been requested by a person entitled to it.
(3)
Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Lord
Chancellor must by regulations make provision as to—
(a)
the procedure to be followed when a knife is retained under
section 51C;
10
(b)
the making of requests by eligible persons for the return of
knives so retained;
(c)
the procedure to be followed when returning a knife pursuant
to a request made in accordance with the regulations.
(4)
In subsection (3)—
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“eligible person”, in relation to a knife retained under section 51C,
means—
(a)
the person who surrendered the knife under subsection
(1) of section 51C or from whom the knife was seized
under that subsection, or
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(b)
any other person specified in regulations under
subsection (3);
“knife” has the same meaning as in section 51C.
51E
Assaulting and obstructing Supreme Court security officers
(1)
Any person who assaults a Supreme Court security officer acting in the
25
execution of the officer’s duty commits an offence.
(2)
A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary
conviction—
(a)
to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or
(b)
to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or
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(c)
to both.
(3)
Subsection (2) applies—
(a)
in England and Wales in relation to offences committed before
the commencement of section 154(1) of the Criminal Justice Act
2003 (general limit on magistrates’ court’s power to impose
35
imprisonment), and
(b)
in Northern Ireland,

as if the reference to 12 months were a reference to 6 months.
(4)
A person who resists or wilfully obstructs a Supreme Court security
officer acting in the execution of the officer’s duty commits an offence.
40
(5)
A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4) is liable on summary
conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.”
(2)
In section 48(3)(a) of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (delegation of
President’s functions to chief executive) after “under section 49(1)” insert “or
51A(1)(a) or (b)”.
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Crime and Courts Bill [HL]
Part 2 — Courts and Justice
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28
Enabling the making, and use, of films and other recordings of proceedings
(1)
The Lord Chancellor may, by order made with the concurrence of the Lord
Chief Justice, provide that a section mentioned in subsection (2) or any
provision of either of those sections—
(a)
does not apply in relation to the making of a recording or the making
5
of a prescribed recording;
(b)
does not apply in relation to the making of a recording, or the making
of a prescribed recording, if prescribed conditions are met, including
conditions as to a court or tribunal or any other person being satisfied
as to anything or agreeing;
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(c)
does not apply in relation to prescribed use of a prescribed recording.
(2)
Those sections are—
(a)
section 41 of the Criminal Justice Act 1925 (no photography or drawing
in court of persons involved in proceedings, and no publication of
contravening images);
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(b)
section 9 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 (no sound recording in
court without permission, and no public playing of recordings).
(3)
In order to ensure the fairness of any particular proceedings of a court or
tribunal or to ensure that any person involved in the proceedings is not unduly
prejudiced, the court or tribunal may—
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(a)
direct that a provision disapplied in relation to the proceedings by an
order under subsection (1) is, despite the order, to apply in relation to
the proceedings, or
(b)
direct that a provision disapplied in relation to the proceedings by an
order under subsection (1) is, despite the order, disapplied in relation
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to the proceedings only if conditions specified in the direction are met.
(4)
No appeal may be made against—
(a)
a direction given under subsection (3), or
(b)
a decision not to give a direction under that subsection.
(5)
In this section—
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“recording” means a visual or sound recording on any medium, including
(in particular)—
(a)
films and other video-recordings, with or without sound,
(b)
other photographs, and
(c)
sketches and portraits;
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“prescribed” means prescribed by an order under subsection (1).
(6)
In section 41 of the Criminal Justice Act 1925 after subsection (1) insert—
“(1A)
See section 28 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 for power to provide
for exceptions.”
(7)
In section 9 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 after subsection (4) insert—
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“(5)
See section 28 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 for power to provide
for further exceptions.”