Courts and Legal Services Act 1990

47 Power to obtain information and require production of documents

(1) The Board may serve a notice on any—

(a) authorised practitioner;

(b) officer or employee of an authorised practitioner;

(c) qualified person who is acting, or has acted, on behalf of an authorised practitioner; or

(d) officer or employee of such a qualified person,

requiring him to provide the Board (within such time and at such place as may be specified in the notice) with such document, or documents of such a description, or with such information, as may be so specified.

(2) The Board shall not exercise its powers under subsection (1) except for the purpose of obtaining such information as it thinks reasonably necessary in connection with the discharge of any of its functions.

(3) The Board’s power under this section to require a person to produce any document includes power—

(a) if the document is produced, to take copies of it or extracts from it and to require that person, or any other person who is or was a director or officer of, or is or was at any time employed by or acting as an employee of, the practitioner concerned, to provide an explanation of the document;

(b) if the document is not produced, to require the person who was required to produce it to state, to the best of his knowledge and belief, where it is.

(4) The Board’s power under this section may be exercised in relation to a person who falls within subsection (1)(c) or (d) only in relation to the provision of conveyancing services on behalf of the authorised practitioner concerned.

(5) Any person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement imposed on him under this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level five on the standard scale.

(6) Any person who, in response to any requirement imposed on him under this section, knowingly or recklessly provides any information or explanation or makes any statement which is false or misleading in a material particular shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; and

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine or to both.

(7) Where any person from whom production of a document is required under this section claims a lien on the document, the production of it shall be without prejudice to the lien.

(8) Nothing in this section shall compel—

(a) the production of a document containing a communication which is privileged from disclosure in legal proceedings in England and Wales; or

(b) the furnishing of information contained in such a communication.

(9) In this section “document” includes any information recorded in any form and, in relation to information recorded otherwise than in legible form, references to its production include references to producing a copy in legible form.