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| Information and records for Ottawa Convention purposes. |
17. - (1) The Secretary of State may, by notice served on any person, require him to give, in such form and within such reasonable period as is specified in the notice, such information as-
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(a) the Secretary of State has reasonable cause to believe is or will be needed in connection with anything to be done for the purposes of the Ottawa Convention, and |
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(b) is described in the notice; |
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and the information required by a notice may relate to a state of affairs subsisting before the coming into force of this Act or of the Ottawa Convention.
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(2) The Secretary of State may, by notice served on any person, require him to keep such records as-
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(a) the Secretary of State has reasonable cause to believe will facilitate the giving of information which that person may at any time be required to give under subsection (1); and |
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(b) are specified in the notice. |
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(3) A person who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with a notice served on him under subsection (1) or (2) is guilty of an offence and liable-
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(a) on summary conviction, to a fine of an amount not exceeding the statutory maximum; |
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(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine. |
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(4) A person on whom a notice is served under subsection (1) and who knowingly makes a false or misleading statement in response to it is guilty of an offence and liable-
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(a) on summary conviction, to a fine of an amount not exceeding the statutory maximum; |
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(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine or to both. |
| Power to search and obtain evidence. |
18. - (1) If-
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(a) a justice of the peace is satisfied, on information on oath, that there are grounds for issuing a warrant under this subsection in relation to any premises, or |
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(b) in Scotland, a justice (within the meaning of section 307 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995) is so satisfied by evidence on oath, |
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he may issue a warrant in writing authorising a person acting under the authority of the Secretary of State to enter the premises, if necessary by force, at any time within one month from the time of the issue of the warrant and to search them.
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(2) There are grounds for issuing a warrant under subsection (1) in relation to any premises if there are reasonable grounds for suspecting-
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(a) that an offence under this Act is being, has been or is about to be committed on the premises; or |
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(b) that evidence of the commission of such an offence is to be found on the premises. |
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(3) A person who enters any premises under the authority of a warrant under this section may-
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(a) take with him such other persons and such equipment as appear to him to be necessary; |
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(b) inspect any document found on the premises which he has reasonable cause to believe may be required as evidence for the purposes of proceedings in respect of an offence under this Act; |
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(c) take copies of, or seize and remove, any such document; |
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(d) inspect, seize and remove any device or equipment found on the premises which he has reasonable cause to believe may be required as such evidence; |
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(e) inspect, sample, seize and remove any substance found on the premises which he has reasonable cause to believe may be required as such evidence. |
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(4) A constable who enters the premises-
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(a) under the authority of the warrant, or |
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(b) by virtue of subsection (3)(a), |
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may search any person found on the premises whom he has reasonable cause to believe to be in possession of any document, device, equipment or substance which may be required as evidence for the purposes of proceedings in respect of an offence under this Act.
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(5) No constable shall, by virtue of subsection (4), search a person of the opposite sex.
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(6) If a warrant under this section so provides, a person (other than a constable) who exercises the powers conferred by the warrant shall do so only in the presence of a constable.
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(7) A person is guilty of an offence if he wilfully obstructs another in the exercise of any power conferred by a warrant under this section.
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(8) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (7) is liable-
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(a) on summary conviction, to a fine of an amount not exceeding the statutory maximum; |
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(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine. |
| Disclosure of information. |
19. - (1) This section applies to information if-
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(a) it was obtained under, or in connection with anything done under, this Act or the Ottawa Convention; and |
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(b) it relates to a particular business or other activity carried on by any person. |
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(2) So long as the business or activity continues to be carried on the information shall not be disclosed except-
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(a) with the consent of the person for the time being carrying on the business or activity; |
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(b) in connection with anything done for the purposes of the Ottawa Convention; |
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(c) in connection with anything done for the purposes of this Act; |
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(d) in connection with the investigation of any criminal offence or for the purposes of any criminal proceedings; |
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(e) in connection with the enforcement of any restriction on imports or exports; or |
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(f) with a view to ensuring the security of the United Kingdom. |
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(3) A person who discloses information in contravention of this section is guilty of an offence and liable-
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(a) on summary conviction, to a fine of an amount not exceeding the statutory maximum; |
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(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine or to both. |
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(4) A disclosure of any information to which this section applies may be made in circumstances in which any of paragraphs (b) to (f) of subsection (2) prevents there from being a contravention of this section notwithstanding any obligation not to disclose it that would otherwise apply.
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Criminal proceedings |
| Consents to prosecutions. |
20. Proceedings for a section 2 offence shall not be instituted-
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(a) in England and Wales, except by or with the consent of the Attorney General; |
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(b) in Northern Ireland, except by or with the consent of the Attorney General for Northern Ireland. |
| Customs and Excise prosecutions. |
21. - (1) Subject to section 20, proceedings for a section 2 offence may be instituted by order of the Commissioners of Customs and Excise if it appears to them that the offence has involved either-
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(a) the movement of a prohibited object into or out of any country or territory; or |
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(b) any proposal or attempt to move a prohibited object into or out of any country or territory. |
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(2) Any proceedings for an offence which are instituted under subsection (1) shall be commenced in the name of an officer.
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(3) In the case of the death, removal, discharge or absence of the officer in whose name any proceedings for an offence were commenced under this section, those proceedings may be continued by another officer.
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(4) Where the Commissioners of Customs and Excise investigate, or propose to investigate, any matter with a view to determining-
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(a) whether there are grounds for believing that a section 2 offence has been committed, or |
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(b) whether a person should be prosecuted for such an offence, |
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that matter shall be treated as an assigned matter within the meaning of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979.
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(5) Nothing in this section shall be taken-
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(a) to prevent any person (including any officer) who has power to arrest, detain or prosecute any person for a section 2 offence from doing so; or |
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(b) to prevent a court from proceeding to deal with a person brought before it following his arrest by an officer for a section 2 offence, even though the proceedings have not been instituted by an order made under subsection (1). |
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(6) In this section "officer" means a person commissioned by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise.
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(7) This section does not apply to proceedings in Scotland.
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| Forfeiture in case of conviction. |
22. - (1) The court by or before which a person is convicted of an offence under this Act may order that anything shown to the court's satisfaction to relate to the offence shall be forfeited and either destroyed or otherwise dealt with in such manner as the court may order.
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(2) In particular, the court may order that the thing is to be dealt with as the Secretary of State may see fit; and, in such a case, the powers of the Secretary of State shall include power to direct the destruction of that thing or to secure its disposal in any other way that appears to him to be appropriate.
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(3) Where-
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(a) the court proposes to order anything to be forfeited under this section, and |
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(b) a person claiming to have an interest in it applies to be heard by the court, |
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the court must not order it to be forfeited unless that person has been given an opportunity to show cause why the order should not be made.
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| Offences by bodies corporate etc. |
23. - (1) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of-
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(a) a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or |
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(b) any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, |
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he (as well as the body corporate) shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
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(2) In subsection (1) "director", in relation to a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members, means a member of the body corporate.
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(3) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a Scottish partnership and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of a partner, he (as well as the partnership) shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
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