Finance Bill

House of Commons

Session 2006 - 07
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Finance Bill

Finance Bill
Schedule 23 — Extension of HMRC powers: Scotland
255

Revenue and Customs warrants
23E
Revenue and Customs warrants
(1)
The sheriff may, if satisfied on information on oath given by an
authorised officer as to the matters mentioned in subsection (2)
below, grant a warrant under subsection (3) below (in this Part, a
5
“Revenue and Customs warrant”).
(2)
Those matters are—
(a)
that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that a Revenue
and Customs offence has been or is being committed; and
(b)
that evidence of that offence is to be found in or on premises
10
specified in the information.
(3)
A Revenue and Customs warrant is a warrant authorising an officer
to—
(a)
enter, if necessary by force, the premises specified in the
information; and
15
(b)
search those premises,

before the expiry of the period of one month beginning with the day
on which the warrant is granted.
(4)
The sheriff may, when granting a warrant, impose such conditions as
the sheriff considers appropriate.
20
(5)
An officer who enters premises under the authority of a Revenue and
Customs warrant may—
(a)
subject to any condition imposed under subsection (4) above,
take with the officer such other persons (including persons
who are not officers) as appear to that officer to be necessary;
25
(b)
subject to subsection (6) below, seize and remove any
document or other thing found in or on the premises which
the officer has reasonable cause to believe may be required as
evidence for the purposes of proceedings in respect of the
offence mentioned in subsection (2)(a) above; and
30
(c)
subject to subsections (6) and (7) below—
(i)
search or cause to be searched any person found in or
on the premises whom the officer has reasonable
cause to believe may be in possession of any such
document or thing; and
35
(ii)
seize and remove any such document or thing found.
(6)
An officer acting under the authority of a Revenue and Customs
warrant may, if the officer considers it appropriate, makes copies of
any document or thing found in or on the premises or on any person
searched under subsection (5)(c) above.
40
(7)
No person may be searched under subsection (5)(c) above except by
a person of the same sex.
(8)
A sheriff may grant a Revenue and Customs warrant in relation to
premises situated in an area of Scotland notwithstanding that it is
outside the area of that sheriff and any such warrant may, without
45
being backed or endorsed by another sheriff, be executed throughout

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Schedule 23 — Extension of HMRC powers: Scotland
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Scotland in the same way as it may be executed within the
sheriffdom of the sheriff who granted it.
(9)
In this section and in sections 23F to 23H of this Act, “premises”
includes any place and, in particular—
(a)
any vehicle, vessel, aircraft or hovercraft;
5
(b)
any offshore installation (within the meaning of section 12(1)
of the Mineral Workings (Offshore Installations) Act 1971);
and
(c)
any tent or other movable structure.
Orders and warrants: common provisions
10
23F
Procedure where documents etc removed
(1)
This section applies where—
(a)
a document is removed under a production order;
(b)
a document or other thing is removed under a Revenue and
Customs warrant.
15
(2)
An officer who removes any document or thing shall, if requested to
do so by a person mentioned in subsection (3) below, provide that
person with a record of what that officer removed.
(3)
The persons referred to in subsection (2) above are—
(a)
in the case of a document removed under a production order,
20
a haver;
(b)
in the case of a document or thing removed under a Revenue
and Customs warrant—
(i)
a person who is the occupier of any premises from
which the document or thing was removed; or
25
(ii)
a person who had possession or control of the
document or thing before it was removed.
(4)
The officer must provide the record within a reasonable time of the
request for it.
23G
Access to and copies of documents etc removed
30
(1)
This section applies where—
(a)
a document is removed under a production order;
(b)
a document or other thing is removed under a Revenue and
Customs warrant.
(2)
A person mentioned in subsection (3) below may apply to the officer
35
in overall charge of the investigation to which the order or warrant
relates—
(a)
for access to the document or thing; or
(b)
for a copy or photograph of it.
(3)
The persons referred to in subsection (2) above are—
40
(a)
in the case of a document removed under a production
order—
(i)
a haver; or
(ii)
a person acting on behalf of the haver;

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(b)
in the case of a document or thing removed under a Revenue
and Customs warrant, a person who had possession or
control of the document or thing before it was removed.
(4)
Unless subsection (5) below applies, the officer in overall charge of
the investigation shall—
5
(a)
in a case to which subsection (2)(a) above applies, allow the
applicant supervised access to the document or thing; or
(b)
in a case to which subsection (2)(b) above applies—
(i)
allow the applicant supervised access to the
document or thing for the purposes of photographing
10
or copying it; or
(ii)
photograph or copy the document or thing (or cause
it to be so photographed or copied) and provide the
applicant with such a photograph or copy within a
reasonable time.
15
(5)
The officer in overall charge need not comply with subsection (4)
above where that officer has reasonable grounds for believing that to
do so would prejudice—
(a)
the investigation;
(b)
the investigation of a Revenue and Customs offence other
20
than the offence for the purposes of the investigation of
which the document or thing was removed; or
(c)
any criminal proceedings which may be brought as a result of
any investigation mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) above.
(6)
In subsection (4) above, “supervised access” means access under the
25
supervision of an officer approved by the officer in overall charge of
the investigation.
23H
Failure to comply with requirements of section 23F and 23G
(1)
This section applies where—
(a)
a document is removed under a production order;
30
(b)
a document or other thing is removed under a Revenue and
Customs warrant.
(2)
Subject to subsection (3) below, a person who claims that—
(a)
an officer has failed to comply with the requirements of
section 23F(2) or (3) of this Act; or
35
(b)
an officer in overall charge of an investigation has failed to
comply with the requirements of section 23G(4) of this Act,

may apply to the sheriff for an order under subsection (4) below.
(3)
An application under subsection (2) above—
(a)
relating to a failure mentioned in subsection (2)(a) above,
40
may be made only by a person who is entitled to make a
request under section 23F(2) of this Act;
(b)
relating to a failure mentioned in subsection (2)(b) above,
may be made only by—
(i)
a haver;
45
(ii)
a person acting on behalf of a haver but only where
that person applied under section 23G(2) of this Act;

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(iii)
a person who had possession or control of the
document or thing before it was removed under a
Revenue and Customs warrant.
(4)
The sheriff may, if satisfied that—
(a)
the officer has failed to comply with the requirements of
5
section 23F(2) or (3) of this Act; or
(b)
the officer in overall charge of the investigation has failed to
comply with the requirements of section 23G(4) of this Act,

order the officer or, as the case may be, the officer in overall charge
of the investigation to comply with the requirements within such
10
time and in such manner as the sheriff specifies in the order.
23J
Confidentiality
(1)
Neither a production order nor a Revenue and Customs warrant
authorises the seizure, removal or copying of any documents or
other things subject to legal privilege.
15
(2)
Subsection (1) above does not apply where the document or thing is
held for the purposes of furthering a criminal purpose.
(3)
In this section—
“documents or other things subject to legal privilege” means—
(a)
communications between a professional legal adviser
20
and the adviser’s client; or
(b)
communications made in connection with or in
contemplation of legal proceedings and for the
purposes of those proceedings,
which would, in legal proceedings, be protected from
25
disclosure by virtue of any rule of law relating to
confidentiality of communications.
23K
Meaning of “document” etc
(1)
In sections 23B to 23J of this Act, references to a “document”
include—
30
(a)
any thing in which information of any description is
recorded; and
(b)
any part of such a thing.
(2)
Where a production order or a Revenue and Customs warrant
applies to a document in electronic or magnetic form, the order or, as
35
the case may be, the warrant requires the person having possession
or control of the document to deliver or, as the case may be, give
access to the information in a form which is visible and legible and,
if the officer executing the order or warrant wishes to remove it, in a
form which can be removed.
40
Execution and enforcement of orders and warrants outwith Scotland
23L
Cross-border exercise of powers
(1)
Section 4 of the Summary Jurisdiction Act 1881 (execution of process
of Scottish courts in England and Wales) shall apply to—
(a)
a production order; and
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Schedule 23 — Extension of HMRC powers: Scotland
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(b)
a Revenue and Customs warrant,

as it applies to a process mentioned in that section.
(2)
Section 29 of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851 (execution of
warrants in Northern Ireland) shall apply to—
(a)
a production order; and
5
(b)
a Revenue and Customs warrant,

as it applies to a warrant mentioned in that section.
Detention and questioning of suspects and witnesses
23M
Powers relating to suspects and potential witnesses
(1)
Where an authorised officer has reasonable grounds for suspecting
10
that a person has committed or is committing, at any place, a
Revenue and Customs offence, the officer may require—
(a)
that person, if found by the officer at that place or at any place
where the officer is entitled to be, to give—
(i)
the information mentioned in subsection (2) below;
15
and
(ii)
an explanation of the circumstances which have given
rise to the officer’s suspicion;
(b)
any other person whom the officer finds at that place or at
any place where the officer is entitled to be and who the
20
officer believes has information relating to the offence, to give
the information mentioned in subsection (2) below.
(2)
That information is—
(a)
the person’s name;
(b)
the person’s address;
25
(c)
the person’s date of birth;
(d)
the person’s place of birth (in such detail as the officer
considers necessary or expedient for the purpose of
establishing that person’s identity); and
(e)
the person’s nationality.
30
(3)
The officer may require the person mentioned in paragraph (a) of
subsection (1) above to remain with the officer while the officer (any
or all)—
(a)
subject to subsection (4) below, verifies any information
mentioned in subsection (2) above given by the person;
35
(b)
subject to section (5) below, establishes whether the person
may be a person suspected of having committed a Revenue
and Customs offence other than the offence in relation to
which the officer made the requirement of that person under
paragraph (a) of subsection (1) above;
40
(c)
notes any explanation proffered by the person.
(4)
The officer shall exercise the power under paragraph (a) of
subsection (3) above only where it appears to the officer that such
verification can be obtained quickly.
(5)
The officer shall exercise the power under paragraph (b) of
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subsection (3) above only where—

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(a)
the person mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection (1)
above has given a name and address; and
(b)
it appears to the officer that establishing the matter
mentioned in paragraph (b) of subsection (3) above can be
achieved quickly.
5
(6)
The officer may use reasonable force to ensure that the person
mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) above remains with that
officer.
(7)
The officer shall inform a person, when making a requirement of that
person under—
10
(a)
paragraph (a) of subsection (1) above, of the officer’s
suspicion and of the general nature of the offence which the
officer suspects that the person has committed or is
committing;
(b)
paragraph (b) of subsection (1) above, of the officer’s
15
suspicion, of the general nature of the offence which the
officer suspects has been or is being committed and that the
reason for the requirement is that the officer believes the
person has information relating to the offence;
(c)
subsection (3) above, why the person is being required to
20
remain with the officer;
(d)
any of the said subsections, that failure to comply with the
requirement may constitute an offence.
23N
Fingerprinting of persons suspected of offences
(1)
An authorised officer may, if the person mentioned in section
25
23M(1)(a) of this Act gives a name and address, require that person
to provide—
(a)
that person’s fingerprints; or
(b)
a record, created by an approved device, of the skin on that
person’s fingers.
30
(2)
Such fingerprints or record may be used only for the purposes of—
(a)
verifying the name and address given by the person;
(b)
establishing whether the person may be a person who is
suspected of having committed any other Revenue and
Customs offence,
35

and all record of such fingerprints or record shall be destroyed as
soon as possible after they have fulfilled those purposes.
(3)
The officer shall inform a person, when making a requirement of that
person under subsection (1) above—
(a)
of the existence of the power to make the requirement and
40
why the officer proposes to exercise it in the person’s case;
and
(b)
that failure to comply with the requirement may constitute
an offence.
(4)
In subsection (1)(b) above, an “approved device” is any device
45
approved by the Scottish Ministers under section 13(8) of the
Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.