Power to enter premises under warrant
65.—(1)  The Commission or any inspector may apply to a court for a warrant and the court may issue such a warrant if it is satisfied that —
(a)there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that there are on any premises documents —
(i)the production of which has been required under section 63 or 64; and
(ii)which have not been produced as required;
(b)there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that —
(i)there are on any premises documents which the Commission or the inspector has power under section 63 to require to be produced; and
(ii)if the documents were required to be produced, they would not be produced but would be concealed, removed, tampered with or destroyed; or
(c)an investigating officer, an authorised person, an inspector or a person required by the inspector has attempted to enter the premises in the exercise of his powers under section 64 but has been unable to do so and that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that there are on the premises documents the production of which could have been required under that section.
(2)  A warrant under this section shall authorise a named officer, and —
(a)in the case of an investigation conducted by the Commission, such other officers or persons as the Commission has authorised in writing to accompany the named officer; and
(b)in the case of an investigation conducted by an inspector, such other persons as the inspector may require,
to do all or any of the following:
(i)to enter the premises specified in the warrant, using such force as is reasonably necessary for the purpose;
(ii)to search any person on those premises if there are reasonable grounds for believing that that person has in his possession any document, equipment or article which has a bearing on the investigation;
(iii)to search the premises and take copies of, or extracts from, any document appearing to be of a kind in respect of which the application under subsection (1) was granted (the relevant kind);
(iv)to take possession of any document appearing to be of the relevant kind if —
(A)such action appears to be necessary for preserving the document or preventing interference with it; or
(B)it is not reasonably practicable to take copies of the document on the premises;
(v)to take any other step which appears to be necessary for the purpose mentioned in paragraph (iv) (A);
(vi)to require any person to provide an explanation of any document appearing to be of the relevant kind or to state, to the best of his knowledge and belief, where it may be found;
(vii)to require any information which is stored in any electronic form and is accessible from the premises and which he considers relates to any matter relevant to the investigation, to be produced in a form —
(A)in which it can be taken away; and
(B)in which it is visible and legible; and
(viii)to remove from those premises for examination any equipment or article which relates to any matter relevant to the investigation.
(3)  If, in the case of a warrant under subsection (1)(b), the court is satisfied that it is reasonable to suspect that there are also on the premises other documents relating to the investigation concerned, the warrant shall also authorise the actions mentioned in subsection (2) to be taken in relation to any such document.
(4)  Where possession of any document is taken under subsection (2)(iv) or (3), the named officer may, at the request of the person from whom possession of the document was taken, provide such person with a copy of the document.
(5)  A named officer may allow any equipment or article which has a bearing on an investigation and which may be removed from any premises for examination under subsection (2)(viii) to be retained on those premises subject to such conditions as the named officer may require.
[23/2007 wef 01/07/2007]
(6)  Any person who fails to comply with any condition imposed under subsection (5) shall be guilty of an offence.
(7)  A warrant issued under this section shall indicate —
(a)the subject matter and purpose of the investigation; and
(b)the nature of the offences created by sections 75 to 78,
and shall continue in force until the end of the period of one month beginning from the day on which it is issued.
(8)  The powers conferred by this section shall not be exercised except upon production of a warrant issued under this section.
(9)  Any person entering premises by virtue of a warrant under this section may take with him such equipment as appears to him to be necessary.
(10)  If there is no one at the premises when the named officer proposes to execute such a warrant, he shall, before executing it —
(a)take such steps as are reasonable in all the circumstances to inform the occupier of the intended entry; and
(b)if the occupier is informed, afford him or his legal or other representative a reasonable opportunity to be present when the warrant is executed.
(11)  If the named officer is unable to inform the occupier of the intended entry, he shall, when executing the warrant, leave a copy of it in a prominent place on the premises.
(12)  On leaving any premises which he has entered by virtue of a warrant under this section, the named officer shall, if the premises are unoccupied or the occupier is temporarily absent, leave them as effectively secured as he found them.
(13)  Any document of which possession is taken under subsection (2)(iv) may be retained for a period of 3 months.
(14)  In this section —
“named officer” means —
(a)an officer of the Commission named in the warrant; or
(b)the inspector named in the warrant,
as the case may be;
“occupier”, in relation to any premises, means a person whom the named officer reasonably believes is the occupier of those premises.
[UK Competition 1998, ss. 28 (1) to (5) and (7) and 29]