http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39Psychoactive Substances Act 2016An Act to make provision about psychoactive substances; and for connected purposes.texttext/xmlenStatute Law Database2023-03-07Expert Participation2023-02-07 <Emphasis>Powers of entry, search and seizure</Emphasis>Power to enter and search premises391Where a justice is satisfied that the requirements in subsection (4) are met in relation to any premises, the justice may issue a warrant (a “search warrant”) authorising a relevant enforcement officer—ato enter the premises, andbto search them for relevant evidence.2A search warrant may be issued only on the application of—aa relevant enforcement officer, in England and Wales or Northern Ireland;ba relevant enforcement officer or a procurator fiscal, in Scotland.3A search warrant may be either—aa warrant that relates only to premises specified in the warrant (a “specific-premises warrant”), orbin the case of a warrant issued in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, a warrant that relates to any premises occupied or controlled by a person specified in the warrant (an “all-premises warrant”).4The requirements of this subsection are met in relation to premises if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that—athere are items on the premises that are relevant evidence, andbin a case where the premises are specified in the application, any of the conditions in subsection (5) is met.5The conditions referred to in subsection (4)(b) are—athat it is not practicable to communicate with any person entitled to grant entry to the premises;bthat it is not practicable to communicate with any person entitled to grant access to the items;cthat entry to the premises is unlikely to be granted unless a warrant is produced;dthat the purpose of entry may be frustrated or seriously prejudiced unless a relevant enforcement officer arriving at the premises can secure immediate entry to them.6In this Act “relevant enforcement officer” means—aa police or customs officer (see section 36(4)), orban officer of a local authority.S. 39 in force at 26.5.2016 by S.I. 2016/553, reg. 2
This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.
<Legislation xmlns="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/namespaces/legislation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2" NumberOfProvisions="117" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/namespaces/legislation http://www.legislation.gov.uk/schema/legislation.xsd" SchemaVersion="1.0" RestrictExtent="E+W+S+N.I." RestrictStartDate="2023-02-07">
<ukm:Metadata xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:ukm="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/namespaces/metadata">
<dc:identifier>http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39</dc:identifier>
<dc:title>Psychoactive Substances Act 2016</dc:title>
<dc:description>An Act to make provision about psychoactive substances; and for connected purposes.</dc:description>
<dc:type>text</dc:type>
<dc:format>text/xml</dc:format>
<dc:language>en</dc:language>
<dc:publisher>Statute Law Database</dc:publisher>
<dc:modified>2023-03-07</dc:modified>
<dc:contributor>Expert Participation</dc:contributor>
<dct:valid>2023-02-07</dct:valid>
<atom:link rel="self" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/data.xml" type="application/xml"/>
<atom:link rel="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/def/navigation/resources" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/resources" title="More Resources"/>
<atom:link rel="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/def/navigation/notes" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/notes" title="Explanatory Notes"/>
<atom:link rel="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/def/navigation/notes/toc" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/notes/contents" title="Explanatory Notes Table of Contents"/>
<atom:link rel="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/def/navigation/act" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2" title="whole act"/>
<atom:link rel="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/def/navigation/introduction" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/introduction" title="introduction"/>
<atom:link rel="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/def/navigation/body" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/body" title="body"/>
<atom:link rel="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/def/navigation/schedules" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/schedules" title="schedules"/>
<atom:link rel="alternate" type="application/rdf+xml" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/data.rdf" title="RDF/XML"/>
<atom:link rel="alternate" type="application/akn+xml" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/data.akn" title="AKN"/>
<atom:link rel="alternate" type="application/xhtml+xml" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/data.xht" title="HTML snippet"/>
<atom:link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/data.htm" title="Website (XHTML) Default View"/>
<atom:link rel="alternate" type="text/csv" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/data.csv" title="CSV"/>
<atom:link rel="alternate" type="application/pdf" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/data.pdf" title="PDF"/>
<atom:link rel="alternate" type="application/akn+xhtml" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/data.html" title="HTML5 snippet"/>
<atom:link rel="http://purl.org/dc/terms/tableOfContents" hreflang="en" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/contents" title="Table of Contents"/>
<atom:link rel="http://purl.org/dc/terms/hasVersion" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/enacted" title="enacted"/>
<atom:link rel="http://purl.org/dc/terms/hasVersion" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/2016-05-26" title="2016-05-26"/>
<atom:link rel="up" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2" title="Entire legislation"/>
<atom:link rel="prev" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/38" title="Provision; Section 38"/>
<atom:link rel="prevInForce" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/38" title="Provision; Section 38"/>
<atom:link rel="next" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/40" title="Provision; Section 40"/>
<atom:link rel="nextInForce" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/40" title="Provision; Section 40"/>
<ukm:PrimaryMetadata>
<ukm:DocumentClassification>
<ukm:DocumentCategory Value="primary"/>
<ukm:DocumentMainType Value="UnitedKingdomPublicGeneralAct"/>
<ukm:DocumentStatus Value="revised"/>
</ukm:DocumentClassification>
<ukm:Year Value="2016"/>
<ukm:Number Value="2"/>
<ukm:EnactmentDate Date="2016-01-28"/>
<ukm:ISBN Value="9780105400288"/>
</ukm:PrimaryMetadata>
<ukm:Notes>
<ukm:Note IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/notes"/>
<ukm:Alternatives>
<ukm:Alternative URI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/pdfs/ukpgaen_20160002_en.pdf" Date="2016-02-05" Title="Explanatory Note" Size="857773"/>
</ukm:Alternatives>
</ukm:Notes>
<ukm:CorrectionSlips>
<ukm:CorrectionSlip URI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/pdfs/ukpgacs_20160002_en.pdf" Date="2016-09-09" Title="Correction Slip" Size="11441"/>
</ukm:CorrectionSlips>
<ukm:Alternatives>
<ukm:Alternative URI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/pdfs/ukpga_20160002_en.pdf" Date="2016-02-24" Size="620530"/>
</ukm:Alternatives>
<ukm:Statistics>
<ukm:TotalParagraphs Value="117"/>
<ukm:BodyParagraphs Value="63"/>
<ukm:ScheduleParagraphs Value="54"/>
<ukm:AttachmentParagraphs Value="0"/>
<ukm:TotalImages Value="0"/>
</ukm:Statistics>
</ukm:Metadata>
<Primary>
<Body DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/body" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/body" NumberOfProvisions="63" RestrictStartDate="2023-02-07">
<Pblock DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/crossheading/powers-of-entry-search-and-seizure" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/crossheading/powers-of-entry-search-and-seizure" NumberOfProvisions="13" id="crossheading-powers-of-entry-search-and-seizure" RestrictStartDate="2016-05-26">
<Title>
<Emphasis>Powers of entry, search and seizure</Emphasis>
</Title>
<P1group RestrictStartDate="2016-05-26">
<Title>Power to enter and search premises</Title>
<P1 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39" id="section-39">
<Pnumber PuncAfter="">
<CommentaryRef Ref="key-ab17668193f1719648f24626a061320c"/>
39
</Pnumber>
<P1para>
<P2 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/1" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/1" id="section-39-1">
<Pnumber>1</Pnumber>
<P2para>
<Text>Where a justice is satisfied that the requirements in subsection (4) are met in relation to any premises, the justice may issue a warrant (a “search warrant”) authorising a relevant enforcement officer—</Text>
<P3 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/1/a" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/1/a" id="section-39-1-a">
<Pnumber>a</Pnumber>
<P3para>
<Text>to enter the premises, and</Text>
</P3para>
</P3>
<P3 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/1/b" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/1/b" id="section-39-1-b">
<Pnumber>b</Pnumber>
<P3para>
<Text>to search them for relevant evidence.</Text>
</P3para>
</P3>
</P2para>
</P2>
<P2 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/2" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/2" id="section-39-2">
<Pnumber>2</Pnumber>
<P2para>
<Text>A search warrant may be issued only on the application of—</Text>
<P3 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/2/a" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/2/a" id="section-39-2-a">
<Pnumber>a</Pnumber>
<P3para>
<Text>a relevant enforcement officer, in England and Wales or Northern Ireland;</Text>
</P3para>
</P3>
<P3 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/2/b" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/2/b" id="section-39-2-b">
<Pnumber>b</Pnumber>
<P3para>
<Text>a relevant enforcement officer or a procurator fiscal, in Scotland.</Text>
</P3para>
</P3>
</P2para>
</P2>
<P2 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/3" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/3" id="section-39-3">
<Pnumber>3</Pnumber>
<P2para>
<Text>A search warrant may be either—</Text>
<P3 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/3/a" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/3/a" id="section-39-3-a">
<Pnumber>a</Pnumber>
<P3para>
<Text>a warrant that relates only to premises specified in the warrant (a “specific-premises warrant”), or</Text>
</P3para>
</P3>
<P3 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/3/b" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/3/b" id="section-39-3-b">
<Pnumber>b</Pnumber>
<P3para>
<Text>in the case of a warrant issued in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, a warrant that relates to any premises occupied or controlled by a person specified in the warrant (an “all-premises warrant”).</Text>
</P3para>
</P3>
</P2para>
</P2>
<P2 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/4" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/4" id="section-39-4">
<Pnumber>4</Pnumber>
<P2para>
<Text>The requirements of this subsection are met in relation to premises if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that—</Text>
<P3 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/4/a" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/4/a" id="section-39-4-a">
<Pnumber>a</Pnumber>
<P3para>
<Text>there are items on the premises that are relevant evidence, and</Text>
</P3para>
</P3>
<P3 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/4/b" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/4/b" id="section-39-4-b">
<Pnumber>b</Pnumber>
<P3para>
<Text>in a case where the premises are specified in the application, any of the conditions in subsection (5) is met.</Text>
</P3para>
</P3>
</P2para>
</P2>
<P2 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/5" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/5" id="section-39-5">
<Pnumber>5</Pnumber>
<P2para>
<Text>The conditions referred to in subsection (4)(b) are—</Text>
<P3 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/5/a" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/5/a" id="section-39-5-a">
<Pnumber>a</Pnumber>
<P3para>
<Text>that it is not practicable to communicate with any person entitled to grant entry to the premises;</Text>
</P3para>
</P3>
<P3 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/5/b" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/5/b" id="section-39-5-b">
<Pnumber>b</Pnumber>
<P3para>
<Text>that it is not practicable to communicate with any person entitled to grant access to the items;</Text>
</P3para>
</P3>
<P3 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/5/c" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/5/c" id="section-39-5-c">
<Pnumber>c</Pnumber>
<P3para>
<Text>that entry to the premises is unlikely to be granted unless a warrant is produced;</Text>
</P3para>
</P3>
<P3 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/5/d" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/5/d" id="section-39-5-d">
<Pnumber>d</Pnumber>
<P3para>
<Text>that the purpose of entry may be frustrated or seriously prejudiced unless a relevant enforcement officer arriving at the premises can secure immediate entry to them.</Text>
</P3para>
</P3>
</P2para>
</P2>
<P2 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/6" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/6" id="section-39-6">
<Pnumber>6</Pnumber>
<P2para>
<Text>
In this Act “
<Term id="term-relevant-enforcement-officer">relevant enforcement officer</Term>
” means—
</Text>
<P3 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/6/a" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/6/a" id="section-39-6-a">
<Pnumber>a</Pnumber>
<P3para>
<Text>a police or customs officer (see section 36(4)), or</Text>
</P3para>
</P3>
<P3 DocumentURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/6/b" IdURI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39/6/b" id="section-39-6-b">
<Pnumber>b</Pnumber>
<P3para>
<Text>an officer of a local authority.</Text>
</P3para>
</P3>
</P2para>
</P2>
</P1para>
</P1>
</P1group>
</Pblock>
</Body>
</Primary>
<Commentaries>
<Commentary id="key-ab17668193f1719648f24626a061320c" Type="I">
<Para>
<Text>
<CitationSubRef SectionRef="section-39" URI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/2016/2/section/39" id="caffv2rn2-00349">S. 39</CitationSubRef>
in force at 26.5.2016 by
<Citation URI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2016/553" Class="UnitedKingdomStatutoryInstrument" Year="2016" Number="553" Title="The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 (Commencement) Regulations 2016" id="caffv2rn2-00350">S.I. 2016/553</Citation>
,
<CitationSubRef SectionRef="regulation-2" URI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2016/553/regulation/2" CitationRef="caffv2rn2-00350" Operative="true" id="caffv2rn2-00351">reg. 2</CitationSubRef>
</Text>
</Para>
</Commentary>
</Commentaries>
</Legislation>