Clause 60 - Power to enter and seize documents
Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill
10:15 am
Mr David Heath (Shadow Minister (Home Affairs), Home Affairs; Somerton and Frome, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment No. 173, in clause 60, page 33, line 44, at end insert
'in order to take possession of, preserve or prevent interference with the documents specified.'.
We now deal with the power to enter and seize documents. Clause 60(4) states:
''A person executing a warrant under this section may take other persons with him, if it appears to him to be necessary to do so.''
That is a permissive power. Presumably, not every person who might be involved in taking possession of documents is necessarily a constable—in fact, under the arrangements for SOCA, it is quite likely that such a person will not be a constable. I fully understand that it will sometimes be necessary to have other persons present in order to obtain the necessary information. One can easily envisage circumstances in which the information is held in electronic form, for instance, on a computer system, so that an expert or someone with greater expertise than the constable executing the warrant might have will be needed to access the information on the system. It is perfectly sensible to make it explicit that that is allowable under the law.
There is an oddity in subsection (10)(c), which provides that subsection (4) does not have effect in Scotland. My understanding is there is case law in Scotland covering exactly the circumstances that I have outlined: someone was taken as an accompanying expert, which raised a question in law in Scotland. I should be grateful if the Minister explained the position under Scottish law and why it is either not necessary or not advisable to give express permission for someone to accompany a person executing a warrant in Scotland.
My purpose in tabling the amendment is to make it explicit that the people who accompany the person executing the warrant must be there for the express purpose of ensuring that the information is obtained. I say that because it has become a regrettable practice in some areas of the police service for officers executing warrants to be, on occasion, accompanied by persons who are not in the police service, but who are there to record what happens either as entertainment or for the news. I find that reprehensible; it is completely inappropriate for members of the media to be advised in advance of the execution of a warrant and the entering of a person's premises so that they are there to film the door being broken down and the entry of the police. I have raised it in the context of other criminal legislation, and we have received assurances from senior police officers and others that the practice is discouraged. However, it happens.