Office of Public Sector Information
(1) A power under section 24 or 25 to search premises shall, in its application to vehicles (by virtue of section 42), be taken to include—
(a) power to stop a vehicle (other than an aircraft which is airborne), and
(b) power to take a vehicle or cause it to be taken, where necessary or expedient, to any place for the purpose of carrying out the search.
(2) A person commits an offence if he fails to stop a vehicle when required to do so by virtue of this section.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (2) shall be liable on summary conviction to—
(a) imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months,
(b) a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or
(c) both.
(4) In the application to a place or vehicle of a power to search premises under section 24 or 25—
(a) a reference to the address of the premises shall be construed as a reference to the location of the place or vehicle together with its registration number (if any), and
(b) a reference to the occupier of the premises shall be construed as a reference to the occupier of the place or the person in charge of the vehicle.
(5) Where a search under Schedule 3 is carried out in relation to a vehicle, the person carrying out the search may, if he reasonably believes that it is necessary in order to carry out the search or to prevent it from being frustrated—
(a) require a person in or on the vehicle to remain with it;
(b) require a person in or on the vehicle to go to and remain at any place to which the vehicle is taken by virtue of subsection (1)(b);
(c) use reasonable force to secure compliance with a requirement under paragraph (a) or (b) above.
(6) Paragraphs 3(2) and (3), 6 and 7 of Schedule 3 shall apply to a requirement imposed under subsection (5) as they apply to a requirement imposed under that Schedule.
(7) Paragraph 6 of Schedule 3 shall apply in relation to the search of a vehicle which is not habitually stationary only if it is moved for the purpose of the search by virtue of subsection (1)(b); and where that paragraph does apply, the reference to the address of the premises shall be construed as a reference to the location where the vehicle is searched together with its registration number (if any).
(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.
(1) Where a document or record is examined under section 27—
(a) it shall not be photographed or copied, and
(b) the person who examines it shall make a written record of the examination as soon as is reasonably practicable.
(2) The record shall—
(a) describe the document or record,
(b) specify the object of the examination,
(c) state the address of the premises where the document or record was found,
(d) where the document or record was found in the course of a search of a person, state the person’s name,
(e) where the document or record was found in the course of a search of any premises, state the name of a person appearing to the person making the record to be the occupier of the premises or to have had custody or control of the document or record when it was found,
(f) where the document or record is removed for examination from the place where it was found, state the date and time when it was removed, and
(g) where the document or record was examined at the place where it was found, state the date and time of examination.
(3) The record shall identify the person by whom the examination was carried out by reference to his service number, rank and regiment.
(4) Where a person makes a record of a search in accordance with this section, he shall as soon as is reasonably practicable supply a copy—
(a) in a case where the document or record was found in the course of a search of a person, to that person, and
(b) in a case where the document or record was found in the course of a search of any premises, to a person appearing to the person making the record to be the occupier of the premises or to have had custody or control of the document or record when it was found.
If the Secretary of State considers it necessary for the preservation of the peace or the maintenance of order, he may authorise a person—
(a) to take possession of land or other property;
(b) to take steps to place buildings or other structures in a state of defence;
(c) to detain property or cause it to be destroyed or moved;
(d) to carry out works on land of which possession has been taken by virtue of this section;
(e) to take any other action which interferes with a public right or with a private right of property.
(1) If he considers it immediately necessary for the preservation of the peace or the maintenance of order, an officer may—
(a) wholly or partly close a road;
(b) divert or otherwise interfere with a road or the use of a road;
(c) prohibit or restrict the exercise of a right of way;
(d) prohibit or restrict the use of a waterway.
(2) In this section “officer” means—
(a) a member of Her Majesty’s forces on duty, or
(b) a person authorised for the purposes of this section by the Secretary of State.
(1) A person commits an offence if he interferes with—
(a) works executed in connection with the exercise of powers conferred by virtue of section 29 or 30, or
(b) any apparatus, equipment or other thing used in connection with the exercise of those powers.
(2) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he had a reasonable excuse for his interference.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to—
(a) imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months,
(b) a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or
(c) both.
(4) An authorisation to exercise powers under section 29 or 30 may authorise—
(a) the exercise of all those powers, or
(b) the exercise of a specified power or class of powers.
(5) An authorisation to exercise powers under section 29 or 30 may be addressed—
(a) to specified persons, or
(b) to persons of a specified class.
(1) If the Secretary of State considers it necessary for the preservation of the peace or the maintenance of order he may by order direct that a specified road—
(a) shall be wholly closed,
(b) shall be closed to a specified extent, or
(c) shall be diverted in a specified manner.
(2) A person commits an offence if he interferes with—
(a) road closure works, or
(b) road closure equipment.
(3) A person commits an offence if—
(a) he executes any bypass works within 200 metres of road closure works,
(b) he has in his possession or under his control, within 200 metres of road closure works, materials or equipment suitable for executing bypass works, or
(c) he knowingly permits on land occupied by him the doing or occurrence of anything which is an offence under paragraph (a) or (b).
(4) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he had a reasonable excuse for his action, possession, control or permission.
(5) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to—
(a) imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months,
(b) a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or
(c) both.
(6) In this section—
“bypass works” means works which facilitate the bypassing by vehicles of road closure works,
“road closure equipment” means any apparatus, equipment or other thing used in pursuance of an order under this section in connection with the closure or diversion of a road, and
“road closure works” means works executed in connection with the closure or diversion of a road specified in an order under this section (whether executed in pursuance of the order or in pursuance of power under an enactment to close or divert the road).
(7) An order—
(a) may contain savings and transitional provisions,
(b) may make provision generally or for specified purposes only, and
(c) may make different provision for different purposes.
(1) This section applies for the purposes of sections 21 to 30.
(2) A power conferred on a person—
(a) is additional to powers which he has at common law or by virtue of any other enactment, and
(b) shall not be taken to affect those powers or Her Majesty’s prerogative.
(3) A constable or member of Her Majesty’s forces may if necessary use reasonable force for the purpose of exercising a power conferred on him.
(4) Where anything is seized it may (unless the contrary intention appears) be retained for so long as is necessary in all the circumstances.
(5) A power to search premises conferred by virtue of this Act shall be taken to include power to search a container.
(6) A member of Her Majesty’s forces exercising a power when he is not in uniform shall, if requested to do so by a person at or about the time of exercising the power, produce to that person documentary evidence that he is a member of Her Majesty’s forces.
(1) The Secretary of State may make codes of practice in connection with—
(a) the exercise by police officers of a power conferred by this Act, and
(b) the seizure and retention of property found by police officers when exercising powers of search conferred by this Act.
(2) The Secretary of State may make codes of practice in connection with the exercise by members of Her Majesty’s forces of a power conferred by this Act.
(3) Where the Secretary of State proposes to issue a code of practice he shall—
(a) publish a draft,
(b) consider any representations made to him about the draft, and
(c) if he thinks it appropriate, modify the draft in the light of any representations made to him.
(4) The Secretary of State shall lay a draft of the code before Parliament.
(5) When the Secretary of State has laid a draft code before Parliament he may bring it into operation by order made by statutory instrument.
(6) The Secretary of State may revise the whole or any part of a code of practice issued by him and issue the code as revised; and subsections (3) to (5) shall apply to such a revised code as they apply to an original code.
(7) In this section “police officer” means a member of the Police Service of Northern Ireland or the Police Service of Northern Ireland Reserve.
(1) A failure by a police officer to comply with a provision of a code shall not of itself make him liable to criminal or civil proceedings.
(2) A failure by a member of Her Majesty’s forces to comply with a provision of a code shall not of itself make him liable to any criminal or civil proceedings other than—
(a) proceedings under any provision of the Army Act 1955 (c. 18) or the Air Force Act 1955 (c. 19) other than section 70 (civil offences), and
(b) proceedings under any provision of the Naval Discipline Act 1957 (c. 53) other than section 42 (civil offences).
(3) A code—
(a) shall be admissible in evidence in criminal or civil proceedings, and
(b) shall be taken into account by a court or tribunal in any case in which it appears to the court or tribunal to be relevant.
(4) In this section—
“criminal proceedings” includes proceedings in Northern Ireland before a court-martial constituted under the Army Act 1955 (c. 18), the Air Force Act 1955 (c. 19) or the Naval Discipline Act 1957 (c. 53) and proceedings in Northern Ireland before the Courts-Martial Appeal Court, and
“police officer” means a member of the Police Service of Northern Ireland or the Police Service of Northern Ireland Reserve.
(1) An order under section 34(5) shall not be made, subject to subsection (2), unless a draft has been laid before and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.
(2) An order may be made without a draft having been approved if the Secretary of State is of the opinion that it is necessary by reason of urgency; and the order—
(a) shall contain a declaration of the Secretary of State’s opinion, and
(b) shall cease to have effect at the end of the period of 40 days beginning with the day on which the Secretary of State makes the order, unless a resolution approving the order is passed by each House during that period.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2)—
(a) a code of practice or revised code to which an order relates shall cease to have effect together with the order,
(b) an order’s ceasing to have effect shall be without prejudice to anything previously done or to the making of a new order (or the issue of a new code), and
(c) the period of 40 days shall be computed in accordance with section 7(1) of the Statutory Instruments Act 1946 (c. 36).
The Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland shall make arrangements for securing that a record is made of each exercise by a constable of a power under sections 21 to 26 in so far as—
(a) it is reasonably practicable to do so, and
(b) a record is not required to be made under another enactment.
Schedule 4 (which provides for compensation to be paid for certain action taken under sections 21 to 32) shall have effect.
(1) This section applies to an offence under sections 21 to 32, except for an offence under paragraph 12 of Schedule 4.
(2) Proceedings for an offence to which this section applies shall not be instituted without the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.
(3) But if it appears to the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland that an offence to which this section applies has been committed for a purpose wholly or partly connected with the affairs of a country other than the United Kingdom, his consent for the purposes of this section may be given only with the permission of the Advocate General for Northern Ireland.
(4) In relation to any time before the coming into force of section 27(1) of the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 (c. 26), the reference in subsection (3) to the Advocate General for Northern Ireland is to be read as a reference to the Attorney General for Northern Ireland.
(1) The Secretary of State shall appoint a person (“the reviewer”) to review—
(a) the operation of sections 21 to 32, and
(b) the procedures adopted by the General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland (“GOC”) for receiving, investigating and responding to complaints.
(2) The reviewer shall conduct a review as soon as is reasonably practicable after—
(a) 31st July 2008, and
(b) each subsequent 31st July.
(3) The reviewer shall comply with any request of the Secretary of State to include in a review specified matters (which need not relate to the matters specified in subsection (1)(a) and (b)).
(4) The reviewer shall send the Secretary of State a report of each review.
(5) The Secretary of State shall lay a copy of each report before Parliament.
(6) The reviewer—
(a) shall receive and investigate any representations about the procedures mentioned in subsection (1)(b),
(b) may investigate the operation of those procedures in relation to a particular complaint or class of complaints,
(c) may require GOC to review a particular case or class of cases in which the reviewer considers that any of those procedures have operated inadequately, and
(d) may make recommendations to GOC about inadequacies in those procedures, including inadequacies in the way in which they operate in relation to a particular complaint or class of complaints.
(7) GOC shall—
(a) provide such information,
(b) disclose such documents, and
(c) provide such assistance,
as the Independent Assessor may reasonably require for the purpose of the performance of his functions.
(8) The Secretary of State may pay expenses and allowances to the reviewer, out of money provided by Parliament.
(1) The Secretary of State may by order repeal sections 21 to 40.
(2) An order—
(a) may make provision generally or only for specified purposes,
(b) may make different provision for different purposes,
(c) may include incidental, consequential or transitional provision or savings,
(d) shall be made by statutory instrument, and
(e) may not be made unless a draft has been laid before and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.
In sections 21 to 38 (and Schedules 3 and 4)—
“act” or “action” includes omission,
“dwelling” means—
a building or part of a building used as a dwelling, and
a vehicle which is habitually stationary and which is used as a dwelling,
“premises” includes any place and in particular includes—
a vehicle,
an offshore installation within the meaning given in section 44 of the Petroleum Act 1998 (c. 17), and
a tent or moveable structure,
“property” includes property wherever situated and whether real or personal, and things in action and other intangible or incorporeal property,
“public place” means a place to which members of the public have or are permitted to have access, whether or not for payment,
“road” has the same meaning as in the Road Traffic Regulation (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 (S.I. 1997/276 (N.I. 2)), and includes part of a road, and
“vehicle” includes an aircraft, hovercraft, train or vessel.
(1) The Secretary of State shall maintain a register of schemes that appear to him—
(a) to be community-based restorative justice schemes, and
(b) to meet requirements determined and published by him.
(2) The requirements shall include a requirement about cooperation with the Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland.
(3) The Secretary of State shall add a scheme to the register if—
(a) a person applies for the scheme to be added, and
(b) the Secretary of State thinks that the scheme is a community-based restorative justice scheme which meets the requirements.
(4) The Secretary of State may remove a scheme from the register if, having considered any report about the scheme made by the Chief Inspector, he thinks that—
(a) it is not a community-based restorative justice scheme, or
(b) it does not meet the requirements.
(5) The Chief Inspector may inspect a scheme which is registered or which is the subject of an application for registration; and—
(a) he shall from time to time make a report to the Secretary of State on inspections carried out by him by virtue of this section, and
(b) section 49(2) to (4) of the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 (c. 26) (laying of Chief Inspector’s reports before Parliament etc) shall apply in relation to the report.
(6) The Secretary of State shall make arrangements for inspection of the register by the public.
(1) In section 17 of the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006 (c. 33), the inserted section 21A of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (c. 47) (Northern Ireland department with policing and justice functions) is amended as follows.
(2) For subsections (1) and (2) substitute—
“(1) An Act of the Assembly that—
(a) establishes a new Northern Ireland department; and
(b) provides that the purpose of the department is to exercise functions consisting wholly or mainly of devolved policing and justice functions,
may (but need not) make provision of the kind mentioned in subsection (3), (4), (5) or (5A).”
(3) After subsection (5) insert—
“(5A) The Act may provide—
(a) for the department to be in the charge of a Northern Ireland Minister elected by the Assembly; and
(b) for that Minister to be supported by a deputy Minister elected by the Assembly.”
(4) In subsection (6)—
(a) for “and (5)” substitute “, (5) and (5A)”;
(b) at the end insert “, or by Order in Council under subsection (7C)”.
(5) After subsection (7) insert—
“(7A) If it appears to the Secretary of State that there is no reasonable prospect that the Assembly will pass an Act of the kind described in subsection (1)(a) and (b), he may lay before Parliament the draft of an Order in Council which—
(a) establishes a new Northern Ireland department;
(b) provides that the purpose of the department is to exercise functions consisting wholly or mainly of devolved policing and justice functions;
(c) provides for the department to be in the charge of a Northern Ireland Minister elected by the Assembly and for that Minister to be supported by a deputy Minister elected by the Assembly; and
(d) provides for Part 3A of Schedule 4A to apply in relation to the department (with any necessary modifications).
(7B) The draft of an Order laid before Parliament under subsection (7A) may contain supplementary, incidental, consequential, transitional or saving provision.
(7C) If the draft of an Order laid before Parliament under subsection (7A) is approved by resolution of each House of Parliament, the Secretary of State shall submit it to Her Majesty in Council and Her Majesty in Council may make the Order.
(7D) No more than one department may be established by virtue of an Order under subsection (7C).”
(6) After section 21A of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (c. 47) insert—
(1) This section has effect in relation to—
(a) the first Act of the Assembly to establish a new Northern Ireland department and to make provision of the kind mentioned in section 21A(5A); or
(b) an Order in Council under section 21A(7C) establishing a new Northern Ireland department.
(2) The Act or the Order may include provision for or in connection with securing that the department is to be treated, for the purposes of section 17, as not having been established until the time at which devolved policing and justice functions are first transferred to, or conferred on, the department (“the time of devolution”).
(3) The Act or the Order may include provision for or in connection with applying paragraph 11E(3) to (6) of Schedule 4A (with any necessary modifications) to enable elections to be held, before the time of devolution, to select—
(a) a member of the Assembly (“the relevant Minister designate”) to be the person who is to hold the relevant Ministerial office as from the time of devolution; and
(b) a member of the Assembly (“the deputy Minister designate”) to be the person who is to hold the deputy Ministerial office as from that time.
(4) Where the Act or the Order includes provision by virtue of subsection (3), it shall secure that (notwithstanding paragraph 11E(1) of Schedule 4A)—
(a) if the relevant Minister designate affirms the terms of the pledge of office within a specified period after the time of devolution, he shall become the relevant Minister;
(b) if the deputy Minister designate affirms the terms of the pledge of office within that period, he shall (subject to paragraph (c)) become the deputy Minister;
(c) if the relevant Minister designate does not affirm the terms of the pledge of office within that period—
(i) he shall not become the relevant Minister; and
(ii) paragraph 11E(10) and (11) of Schedule 4A shall apply as if the relevant Minister had ceased to hold office at the end of that period otherwise than by virtue of section 16A(2);
(d) if the deputy Minister designate does not affirm the terms of the pledge of office within that period—
(i) he shall not become the deputy Minister; and
(ii) paragraph 11E(10) of Schedule 4A shall apply as if the deputy Minister had ceased to hold office at the end of that period otherwise than by virtue of section 16A(2).
Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007